Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Parent Resource to Reduce Teen Motor Vehicle Fatalities


Parents of teenagers may think they do not have much influence on their kids, but when it comes to safe driving, they do — and it could mean the difference between life and death. From 2004 to 2011, rates of motor vehicle crash deaths among 15-19 year-olds in Colorado dropped more than 67 percent. However, in 2012 Colorado experienced a 10 percent rise in teen fatalities from 2011.

For those of you that participated in the regional trainings, many of your groups identified parent education as a prevention recommendation to reduce teen driving fatalities. This resource was just released in October and is available for you to promote within your community.

The Colorado Teen Driving Alliance (CTDA) has created an  online course to reach parents with the powerful message that they can limit their teen’s risks while driving by enforcing safe driving practices, and we need your help getting this resource into the hands of parents. Teens who say their parents set rules and monitor their driving behavior in a supportive way are 50 percent less likely to crash and 70 percent less likely to drive intoxicated.