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Drive Rite: Keys to Smart Driving - Marion County

 
Drive Rite: Keys to Smart Driving

Getting a driver's license is a rite of passage for American teens. No other country has a higher percentage of teens driving at such an early age, and no other country loses as many teens to traffic fatalities. Reducing this fatality rate and helping Indiana youths become safe drivers is not just a family responsibility, it's a community responsibility.

Drive Rite: Keys to Smart Driving
Community-based progressive training for young drivers

Every community in Indiana has lost one or more of its young citizens in a traffic crash. Our state ranks among the highest in the nation for the number of 16- to 19-year-old drivers killed in crashes.

Reducing this fatality rate and helping Indiana youths become safe drivers is not just a family responsibility or even a school responsibility, it's a community responsibility. Too often, our attitude has been simply to assume that driver's education adequately prepares youths to drive safely and effectively. However, the six hours of driving time that Indiana law requires for driver's education is just the beginning, not the end, of driver training.

New drivers need additional instruction and supervised time behind the wheel to ensure their own safety, as well as that of their friends and family and other citizens. Your community has the opportunity to help provide this.

Drive Rite: Keys to Smart Driving is an innovative community partnership among youths, parents, law enforcement, and community leaders that changes the way we train young drivers. Designed by a team of professionals from Indiana law enforcement, emergency medical care, and youth development, it combines behind-the-wheel practice with educational activities designed to increase young drivers' knowledge and judgment when they encounter various road, traffic, and weather conditions. Community involvement is a key component of the program. Drive Rite is offered throughout the state through community-based teams. After attending a Drive Rite training workshop, teams - typically comprised of volunteers from law enforcement, emergency medical services, insurance companies, and public schools - sponsor the program in their community. The community team recruits youths and their parents to Drive Rite, holds regular meetings for participants, organizes educational activities, and monitors progress in the supervised driving portion of the program in which a parent serves as a driving coach.

Drive Rite communities receive support that includes:
  • Team-building and leadership-training workshop
  • Community training manual
  • Affordable educational packets for participants
  • Brochures and other educational materials
  • Link to your community's Drive Rite Web site from the Indiana Drive Rite Web site

    • Components of Drive Rite include:

  • Driving experience - 60 hours of supervised driving on specific types of roads and in different types of traffic and weather conditions. A parent is the driving coach, and driving time is recorded in a logbook.
  • Instructional DVD - young drivers, parents, and driving instructors demonstrate many of the components of the program, as well as defensive driving techniques and what to do in an emergency. Participants choose appropriate actions in simulated driving situations.
  • Community-sponsored meetings/events - community teams hold regular meetings and sponsor educational activities or events to increase young peoples' knowledge and judgment when they encounter various road, traffic, and weather conditions.

    When combined with a school-sponsored or private course or at-home instruction, Drive Rite will better prepare youths to take on the challenge and responsibility of driving safely. States that have similar programs and/or graduated licensing laws that require additional behind-the-wheel training have seen teen fatality rates decline.

    Drive Rite is sponsored by the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service and the Community Systemwide Response component of 4-H. It is supported by a grant from The Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving.

    The cost of the Drive Rite: Keys to Smart Driving is $19.95 per youth (kit includes DVD and LogBook(TM))


    For further information regarding Drive Rite, please contact

    Dorothy Campbell
    Extension Educator
    Purdue Extension-Marion County
    6640 Intech Blvd., Suite 120
    Indianapolis, IN 46278-2012

    Phone: (317) 275-9305 ext. 261
    Fax: (317) 275-9309
    Email: dcampbe2@purdue.edu

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