Empowering Youth to Lead Positive Teen Safe Driving Campaigns

Safety Center received funding from the Allstate Foundation for teen safe driving education. This Teen Safe Driving program empowers high school students to create teen-to-teen safe driving campaigns. These youth-led campaigns focus on making teen traffic safety a priority in the community.
“Empowering students to create positive peer-to-peer messages helps develop attitudes and behaviors supporting lifelong safe driving values,” says, Elizabeth McClatchy, President & CEO of Safety Center.
The funding provides support to three Teen-to-Teen Safe Driving Campaign contests. The northern and southern California contests will run in October 2015 and central California in March of 2016. Those participating in the contest can win cash prizes for their school.
During the Teen-to-Teen Safe Driving Campaign students create positive safe driving slogans and develop plans to engage the entire school in activities reinforcing safe driver and passenger decisions.
One activity during the campaign is the 21 day Challenge. Parents are role models for safe driving behavior, yet recent studies show a higher rate of cell phone use by adults in the driver seat. Teens challenge their peers and parents to turn off cell phones when they are the driver or passenger in a motor vehicle for 21 consecutive days. The goal of the challenge is for teens and parents to share a commitment to safe habits as passengers and drivers.
Youth are also encouraged to reach out to the community and local government to increase awareness about Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) as a set of best practices for preventing teen car crashes. One of the deadliest distractions for young drivers is teen passengers. Youth leaders can educate organizers of sporting and community events on the importance of developing strategies with parents to make sure all event participants have a safe ride home.
Campaign leaders conduct Pre and post-campaign surveys to measure the effect their campaign had in reducing distracted driving behavior at their school.
Please visit our website for contest entry forms and resources, or call 916-438-3385 for more information. The Teen Safe Driving 21 Day Challenge App is available at the Apple Store and on Google Play.