Do Sycamore High School Teens Know "Everything?" Students Learn Rules of the Road in IKnowEverything Teen Driver Safety Program.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 21, 2014

Genevieve Adams, FAAR

Genevieve.Adams@responsibility.org

202-637-0077

 

PLEASANT VIEW, TN - Today, Sycamore High School teamed up with the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office to host the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility’s (Responsibility.org) IKnowEverything teen driver safety program. This gameshow style assembly included 225 students from the 9-12th grades. During National Teen Driver Safety Week, Responsibility.org announced the results of the data collected by Responsibility.org from a survey of over 2,000 students nationwide from this past 2013-2014 school year to determine if teens really do know everything about traffic safety.

 

IKnowEverything is an integrated teen driver safety program that highlights the issues of drunk driving and distracted driving, and reiterates that parents are the leading influence on their teen’s driving behaviors. The program also reinforces how to be a safe driver and covers critical topics including drinking alcohol underage and driving, distracted driving, late night driving, speeding, number of passengers and license restrictions.

 

“We are responsible for educating teen drivers about traffic safety,” said Kendell Poole, Director of the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office. “Having data on their traffic safety knowledge will help us to address the real issues our teens face behind the wheel.”

 

“We put a high priority in keeping Tennessee teens safe on the road,” said Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. “This data from Responsibility.org reinforces that parents need to have conversations early and often about the expectations they have for their kids when they drive, especially during the first few months.” 

 

During the 2013-2014 school year, over 2,000 student participants’ answers were collected anonymously and were part of a nationwide survey of teen drivers. The results identify the gaps in new teen driver’s knowledge and help traffic safety experts, teens and communities work together to improve teen driver safety. The results found that teens don’t know everything about traffic safety, especially in terms of peer pressure in the car and common driving scenarios such as: 

• 67% did not understand how to safely navigate a complicated driving situation

• 60% did not know what to do when a speeding car approached them from behind

• 35% did not know what to do when an emergency vehicle approaches at a red light

 

“As principal, I thought it would be great to bring a program like IKnowEverything to our students,” said Ramona Fritts, principal, Sycamore High School. “We were impressed with how Responsibility.org analyzed the holes in our nation’s driver education system through their nationwide survey. We truly believe testing our teen’s knowledge of the road is critical to a safer and smarter roadway.”

 

“Teen driver safety is a really important issue and we are anxious to address the major problems we found amongst teen drivers from the results of our nationwide survey conducted this past year,” said Ralph Blackman, President and CEO of the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. “We found that teens really don’t know everything about how to be safe behind the wheel and we’re ready to face their misconceptions of road rules head on and better inform our teens about making smart decisions on the road.” 

 

About the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility 

Formerly known as The Century Council, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR) is a national not-for-profit that leads the fight to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking and is funded by the following distillers: Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.; Beam, Inc.; Brown-Forman; Constellation Brands, Inc.; DIAGEO; Hood River Distillers, Inc.; and Pernod Ricard USA. For more than 23 years, FAAR has transformed countless lives through programs that bring individuals, families and communities together to guide a lifetime of conversations around alcohol responsibility. To learn more, please visit us at responsibility.org.