|
| |
Alive At 25 Teen Educational Driving Program Expands
Alive At 25, the teen defensive driving educational program administered by
the Colorado State Patrol, announced today that the program continues to expand
and is now being offered in several Denver Public High Schools, as well as more
than 40 other high schools across Colorado.
"We are pleased that three of the Denver high schools – East, North and
Montbello, are now involved in offering the Alive At 25 (AA25) four-hour
defensive driving course to its students as taught by Colorado State Patrol (CSP)
and other community law enforcement officers," said Colonel Mark Trostel, Chief
of the CSP. "Later this month, we will be meeting with DPS principals to discuss
additional expansion of the program.
"We still have a long way to go in protecting our young drivers," said Colonel
Trostel. "Each year nearly 6,000 teens are killed in car accidents, and last
year more than 150 teens died in Colorado car crashes.
"The CSP started the AA25 program in 1996 and since then more than 50,000
Colorado youths between the ages of 15 and 24 have completed the course, said
Colonel Trostel. "Colorado is the only state in the nation where AA25 is taught
exclusively by off-duty state highway patrol officers, municipal police officers
and deputy sheriffs. Since January of this year, more than 11,000 Colorado
students have taken the AA25 course.
Building partnerships with the communities in Colorado to provide defensive
driving education is a major goal of the CSP AA25 program. Forty-one high
schools around the state have offered AA25 classes following the teen driver
safety assemblies presented at each school by the Caitlyn Craig Foundation, an
AA25 advocate.
AA25 also has entered into a partnership with the Center for Transportation
Safety (CTS). The CSP 72-foot tractor/trailer unit that contains driving
simulators and displays the Alive At 25 message routinely travels the state and
sets up at schools and community events to educate drivers.
At the event held today at Denver's East High School, four AA25 teen safety
community partners presented funds to support the program: Grease Monkey
International of Colorado $20,000; The Finley Foundation $4,440; The Rocky
Mountain Chapter of the BMW Car Clubs of America $6,000, and the Caitlyn Craig
Foundation $3,265.
Sergeant Dean Garcia of the CSP Glenwood Springs Troop, named the nation's "Best
AA25 Instructor" by the National Safety Council (NSC) at its recent World
Congress pointed out that, "Inexperience in young drivers is always a problem.
The more training which we can provide them before they receive their license,
the better chance we have of not having them involved in a serious or fatal
crash. Parents need to take an active role in Colorado's Graduated Driver
Licensing (GDL) process."
Sgt. Garcia was selected by the NSC's International Defensive Driving Courses
Committee which selects the instructor that demonstrates the highest performance
in teaching the class and overall dedication to Alive at 25 in their community.
Sgt. Garcia was selected from nearly 1000 instructors nationwide. In Sgt.
Garcia's case, 99% of all of his students gave him an "excellent" rating which
is the highest rating achievable.
The NSC also presented Colorado's AA25 program the 2005 awards for being the
"Best Improved," having the "Best Performance," and recognized for the most
"Outstanding Effort in Training Teen Drivers" in the country. The "Outstanding
Effort" award was a one-time award presented to the CSP in recognition of its
efforts toward saving the lives of teen drivers during the past 10 years.
The CSP Family Foundation, a nonprofit 501c 3, is able to offer the AA25 at a
student tuition of $30. The AA25 course complies with the GDL laws that became
effective July 2004 which compels all Colorado minor drivers under the age of 16
to complete a state-approved driver awareness or driver education program before
they can obtain a permit in advance of applying for a driver's license.
For more information on AA25 or other teen driving safety programs:
• http://alive-at-25.org/
• http://theccf.net/
•
http://www.coteendriver.com
• http://csp.state.co.us/
|
