Tag Archive: driving safety tips
Project Ignition Brings out the Best in Teen Driving Safety
June 3, 2011
Since 1983, the National Youth Leadership Council has strived to “create a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world with young people, their schools and their communities through service-learning.” They have been coordinating a lot of initiatives, research/leadership programs and professional development programs for over two decades now.
The one we will be focusing on is Project Ignition, which brings out the best in students, teachers and the community when it comes to creative service-learning programs designed to promote teen driver safety.
What is service-learning?
In their words, service-learning is “learning in action.” Creating a driving safety video about seat belt safety is a service. Sitting in front of a computer, watching that seat belt safety video is learning.
Service-learning is a method of teaching that puts the ball in the hands of the students, teachers and the community. With the freedom to create something based on things that they know their peers will learn from, regardless of the method of delivery, but also inclusive of things one might learn from a classroom creates a service-learning program that will be easier to comprehend. It is learning in action.
So what is Project Ignition, and how does it fit into all this?
Project Ignition is a service-learning grant program focused on providing high schools with great teen driver safety-focused service-learning ideas and giving them the spark necessary to get these ideas happen.
These ideas may engage students, teachers and the community to evaluate how they fit into the whole teen driver safety issue, and what can and must be done for them not only to be the cause of safety, but also influence attitudes and spread the overall message that not only do their peers care, but also the community. The impact of these ideas may change city policies; it may give students a platform for a dialogue with lawmakers they otherwise wouldn’t have got to; it may bring out stories from families of teen driving crashes; at the very least, these ideas might change minds.
The ripple effect achieved by these ideas is like throwing a boulder into a small pond.
What Project Ignition does to get these service-learning ideas started is provide a $2,000 grant for 25 selected schools which may enable the idea to become reality. But it doesn’t stop there: the 10 best out of the 25 schools selected stand a chance of becoming one of the Project Ignition National Leader Schools. Leader schools will be given the chance to expand their original campaign for a second year with a funding of $2,500, along with $5,000 to support their participation in the National Service-Learning Conference in 2012.
How do I get our school’s teen driver safety service-learning idea funded?
Project Ignition’s contact details are on the site. Application for becoming one of the 25 selected schools (in the US or Canada) is open in August, but interested parties may contact them as early as now. http://www.sfprojectignition.com/
Image: statefarm.com
5 Teen Driving Safety Tips
January 11, 2011
Tomes can be written about teen driving safety tips but some of the more important ones, are usually the ones that are both the most simple and sometimes-overlooked. Most people know that drinking while driving is never a good idea, regardless of if it is a new driver, or older driver. But there are several other reminders to pass on to family and friends.
Here are a few of the better teen driving safety tips:
Contracts with parents – This is by far the simplest and easiest to do to keep teens safe: maintain a Parent-Teen driving contract or logbook. It could be as simple as a set of dos and don’ts from parents to their teens; along with the appropriate consequences should the teen break any of the terms of agreement. A logbook is helpful to limit access to the vehicle and monitor your teens use and responsibility toward driving and care. Studies show that when teens are not given unlimited access to the vehicle, that they take better care of it and are involved in fewer crashes and receive les tickets. The logbook can be as simple as a teen noting down the times of departure and arrival if the vehicle will be used.
Don’t be a chauffeur – A teen driving safety tip is for teens not to become their friend’s personal driver. Just because a teen is able to drive does not mean they are capable of handling the distraction and responsibility for their passengers. Many states have enacted laws prohibiting learner’s permit holders from having passengers under 21, and for newly licensed drivers limiting passengers as well. More passengers equate to more variables to lose focus on while driving.
Learn from defensive driving, not by driving around – Driver’s education and defensive driving courses are specifically designed to create a controlled environment for new drivers to hone their skills and learn strategies for safe driving. Busy streets are not for learning defensive driving on the fly.
Buckle up! – Teach a teen driver to practice buckling up before even starting the vehicle. Wearing your safety belt reduces your chances of being killed or injured by up to 50 percent. As the driver, it keeps you at wheel and in control of the vehicle, which can help you react to other compounding situations in a crash. For a passenger buckling up reduces their body of being thrown from the vehicle, crashing into the interior of the vehicle or other occupants, and reduces the damage caused internally by the force to their organs. Making a constant habit of buckling up before turning on the ignition will go a long way to ensuring their safety and avoiding a citation.
Distracted Driving Mobile App – Most distracted driving mobile applications are designed to disable a mobile phone’s features while the phone is moving. This is a great way to avoid the temptation to answer the phone or a text while behind the wheel. Another feature for many of these apps is to designate locations through their Global Positioning System (GPS) that are unsafe allowing parents to be notified, should their teen find themselves in those spots.
Vehicle crashes are the number one cause of deaths for teens, make it a priority to raise vehicle safety awareness.