NASHVILLE -- The support of the Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO) has made possible the launch of a new safe driving campaign aimed at directing education and knowledge of safe driving practices at teens across the state of Tennessee.
Reduce TN Crashes combines innovative awareness technologies with creative marketing principles in striving toward a simple goal – to empower more than 600 statewide public and private high schools to increase peer-guided traffic safety activities. The underlying notion is simple – that increasing traffic safety activities reduces traffic crashes, a claim that has been proven empirically by NHTSA on multiple occasions.
The premise of the campaign is to increase awareness of safe driving practices amongst teens by facilitating and rewarding activities that are rooted in promoting teen traffic safety. Schools participating in the awards program will complete activities that vary in time, effort and manpower requirements, ultimately working toward achieving Traffic Safety Awards authorized by GHSO. Points will be awarded en route to Bronze, Silver and Gold standard certifications for all safe driving activities completed by individuals or groups in member schools.
Reduce TN Crashes is designed to act as a portal to all teen traffic safety activities that are available within the Volunteer State, as well as instructions for registration and coordination of each of these activities. Activity complexity ranges from minimal – such as posting signs in school parking lots and common areas that warn against distracted driving – to multifaceted, such as hosting a Ford “Ride-and-Drive” event.
Additionally, the program is designed to drive Internet traffic to partner programs and websites, increasing activity participation and simultaneously marketing each program in the most accurate and constructive manner possible. Key partners include Ford, State Farm, Bridgestone, and the Tennessee Trucking Foundation (TTF).
"The Tennessee Tech University Business Media Center continues to raise the bar when it comes to providing traffic safety information,” Kendell Poole, Director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, said. “The new website devoted to reducing teen crashes is another powerful portal to get our message across. This site gives teenagers the tools necessary to be more conscious about their choices when driving on Tennessee roadways.”
Reduce TN Crashes has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm and support. More than 30 school superintendents endorsed their district’s participation in the program at the annual state Superintendent’s Conference in September, and the program has already proven successful at facilitating traffic safety activities in local high schools.
On October 24, the Tennessee Trucking Foundation and representatives from the Tennessee Highway Patrol will visit Cookeville High School, where the T.E.S.T. Club will host a TTF presentation entitled “Teens & Trucks Share the Road.” This event was facilitated in part by the& Reduce TN Crashes team in effort to promote the Foundation’s “Teens & Trucks” initiative. Additionally, the presentation will serve as a Silver level activity for Cookeville High School, earning it significant points toward a Silver Safety Award.
For more information regarding getting involved with Reduce TN Crashes, please visit ReduceTNCrashes.org or contact Kate Nicewicz at the Tennessee Tech University Business Media Center at 931-372-6383 or knicewicz@tntech.edu.
