Partners for Safe Teen Driving

The program was launched statewide in May 2004. Based on extensive research Safe Teen Driving used television, radio, print, cinema and outdoor advertising to announce a media campaign designed to reach teen drivers. The campaign focused on the five key influencers of teen drivers: parents, educators, law enforcement, businesses and the teens themselves.

During 2004 an extensive network of alliances involving parent organizations, driver education coordinators, classroom educators, law enforcement agencies and departments, wellness organizations and businesses were formed.

Parents: Role Models for the Road

Surveys conducted in 2003 and 2004 revealed the need for parent education in three critical areas: licensing procedures for the novice driver, traffic laws as they apply to the beginning driver, and a plan for coaching their teen following the issuing of the Virginia learner's permit.

In response to this "Parents: Role Models for the Road" has provided the following:

• A series of print ads in 57 Virginia weekly newspapers
• Two, 30-second radio advertisements created to run in seven of the largest demographic radio markets in Virginia.
• Two, 30-second television public service announcements, "Hindsight" and "If cars could talk", for free placement throughout Virginia cable television networks
• Teen Safe Driving "Monthly Tips," which reach 145 high schools and thousands of parents
• "Monthly Tips" for parents sent monthly by the Virginia Parent Teachers Association (VAPTA) electronic newsletter to thousands of parents statewide
• Half-page ads carried by the Richmond Parent Magazine featuring more tips and useful information for parents of teen drivers
• Monthly articles that are used by the Virginia Association of Driver Education and Traffic Safety (VADETS) in its newsletter to hundreds of public and private driver educators throughout Virginia.
• NBC4 Washington DC featured Dying2Drive as the title of a five-part series concerning the crisis in teen crashes and fatalities in the fall and winter of 2004-2005
• Frequent radio interviews and print articles featuring the Safe Teen Driving health initiative
• Numerous presentations at community, parent, and school forums, which explore the realities of teen driving in Virginia, and mandatory parents meetings for Stafford County Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools
• Information for news concerning teen drivers

Parents as Partners for Safe Teen Driving

Following a cluster of automobile crashes in 2003 involving teens in Stafford County, Virginia, the Stafford County School Board adopted mandatory parent meetings for students interested in taking behind-the-wheel instruction. The meetings have been well received by Stafford County parents. Representatives of Prince William County Public Schools and Prince William Police Department met with Partners for Safe Teen Driving and discussed the possibility of offering mandatory meetings similar to the Stafford model. Following extensive visits to Stafford County, the Prince William County school division and the Prince William County police department formed a cooperative agreement to design a program similar to Stafford's. On February 23, 2005, the Prince William County School Board adopted Prince William Partners for Safe Teen Driving for the upcoming 2005-2006 school year.

The goal of Partners for Safe Teen Driving is to help communities start, implement, and continue a Partners for Safe Teen Driving progarm. Partners for Safe Teen Driving is a comprehensive, structured, systematic, and economical method for school divisions to educate parents and to support and enhance the current Virginia Driver Education curriculum.