Teen Driver Updates from Secretary of State Ruth Johnson

Peer-to-peer teen driving program available to nearly 1,000 schools

Every day, seven teenagers are killed in traffic crashes across the United States. Last year, over 3,000 teens were killed and nearly 300,000 were injured in crashes on America’s roads.  This translates to over one-third of all teen deaths - and almost all were preventable. 

Students in nearly 1,000 Michigan high schools have the chance to reduce these tragic numbers through Strive 4 a Safer Drive (S4SD), a peer-to-peer traffic safety program in which students determine everything from program budget to evaluation as they work toward saving lives in their school community.

For the fourth year, S4SD, a public-private partnership between AAA Michigan, Ford Driving Skills for Life and the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning are offering the program to high schools in the 25 counties most impacted by teen traffic deaths. This program provides funding, guidance and resources to encourage students talking to students to promote the message of safe driving and the impact traffic crashes have on our lives. Start or be a part of your school's S4SD team! Participating schools can receive up to $2,000 to develop, promote, implement and evaluate student-led traffic safety programs focused on improving seat belt use, reducing speeding, eliminating underage drinking and impaired driving, removing distractions like texting, music, phones and passengers while driving and hazards specific to winter driving conditions.  Additionally, participating schools will be eligible to send students to a free half-day Ford Driving Skills for Life hands-on driving clinic. This event utilizes professional drivers and specially equipped vehicles on a closed course that will address hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed and space management and distracted and impaired driving. To learn more about this program, go to Michigan.gov/S4SD or contact Gary Bubar, Project Manager at Strive4aSaferDrive@gmail.com.

It was just a quick text... 

A West Michigan funeral home has produced a memorable video to impart the message of what the ultimate price to pay for texting and driving may be.

Click the picture above or visit http://idrivetextfree.com.

Be more careful and increase your following distance at night, during bad weather conditions, rush hour, during maneuvers such as lane changes, and when approaching intersections. Ruth Johnson Secretary of State

Caution: School buses

When you are following or approaching a school bus that has its yellow overhead lights flashing, prepare to stop. If its red lights are alternately flashing, by law you must stop no closer than 20 feet from the bus. Proceed when the red lights are turned off and it is safe to do so.

If a moving or stopped bus has its yellow hazard warning lights flashing, proceed with caution. It is not necessary to stop for a school bus that has stopped on the other side of a divided highway where the road is separated by a barrier, such as a concrete or grass median.

Use extra care around buses and in school zones. Children are small and hard to see and may dart into the street or out from around parked vehicles.

Teaching tip for parents

"Commentary driving" is a great communication tool. Coach your teen to describe their actions, thoughts and observations out loud as they drive, similar to a sports commentator.

Throughout the learning process, ask them to verbalize what they see around them, including potential risks and any steps they need to take to avoid those risks.

Information excerpted from The Parent's Supervised Driving Guide, a very helpful award-winning resource for families with young drivers.

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