Dedicated Advocates, a Good Law and a Zero Goal: Giving Thanks for Teen Driver Safety

As the 2011 Thanksgiving holiday -- one I had the pleasure of enjoying with family and friends --  comes to an end, I thought it fitting to devote this week’s blog post to taking stock of what I’m thankful for when it comes to teen driver safety.

First, I’m grateful to be living in a state where traffic safety -- thanks to the work of many dedicated individuals  -- is a priority.  While you might think that only police officers or government officials work to make our roadways safe (and thank heaven they do!), there are countless others from all walks of life who are involved.   In fact, I have the privilege and pleasure of working with many volunteers who give countless hours to the cause,  from Joanne Veech, an executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers, who developed and facilitates a model parent/teen safe driving education program at Randolph High School (Morris County) as well as shares her expertise with others across the state, to Donna Weeks and Jorge and Lourdes Verea, parents who have channeled the tragic loss of their daughters  (Kyleigh D’Alessio and Rebeka Verea) in teen driving crashes into first-in-the nation legislative initiatives and parent and teen education programs that are helping to save lives. 

I’m also grateful to the more than 50 individuals and organizations who are committed to helping promote the proven principles of Graduated Driver Licensing(GDL)  as members of the New Jersey Teen Safe Driving Coalition (a partnership funded by The Allstate Foundation and the National Safety Council -- who we gratefully acknowledge).  Thanks to their efforts, we are helping teens, parents, law enforcement officials and citizens in communities across the state understand how and why our GDL program works to help teens -- our most vulnerable drivers -- build skill and become good drivers for life. 

New Jersey is recognized as a leader in teen driver safety and thanks to a strong Graduated Driver License law, teen driving fatalities have declined 56 percent in the past decade.  Crashes involving teens 16-20 years of age are down as well,  dropping 15.4 percent from 51,349 in 2009 to 43,414 last year.  So I’m not only thankful for the law, but for all of the crashes and injuries it has prevented as well as young lives saved. 

Even with a good law, I’m grateful to those legislators who recognize that we can and must do more to address the number one killer of teens.  Thank you to New Jersey General Assembly members John Wisniewski  and Pamela Lampitt, and Senator Brian Stack for sponsoring legislation (A3309/S3058) that would lengthen the permit or supervised driving phase of the GDL program, ensure that teens get plenty of behind the wheel practice during that phase (after all that’s how we learn to drive by driving), and put in place the mechanism for ensuring that families have access to lifesaving information prior to their teen’s licensure through pre-permit education (which I’ve written about in a ).  All three of these provisions are, according to a March 2008 report issued by the New Jersey Teen
Driver Study Commission, essential for stemming the tide of motor vehicle crashes which are three times more likely to involve teens than any other age group on the road. 

I’m grateful that the bill will be heard by the Assembly Transportation Committee on November 28 and am hopeful that it will also be discussed by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, as well as voted on in both houses before the Lame Duck session ends in January.  (I urge you to learn more about these bills and to contact your legislators asking that they make teen driver safety a priority by supporting them.) 

Finally, I’m grateful to the thousands of teachers and driver education and training professionals who work not only with teens but with children of all ages to address traffic safety.  (A critical mission since car crashes are the number one killer of children, teens and young adults up to age 35.)  Thanks to their efforts, young children are learning about the  lifesaving value of car and booster seats as well as safe walking and biking practices.  Middle school students are identifying what it means to take responsibility for their actions when using our roadways as well as being safe passengers in motor vehicles, and high school students are not only learning the fundamentals of safely operating and maintaining a motor vehicle through classroom and behind the wheel programs, but developing and implementing programs to teach each other about the dangers of distracted, impaired and other unsafe driving behaviors.

Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to teen driver safety.  But recognizing that the only acceptable number when it comes to teen drivers (and all motorists and roadway users for that matter) is zero -- no crashes, injuries or fatalities -- I remain committed (as does all of our amazing safety advocates across the state) to ensuring we get there.