Safe Teen Driver Course

Teen Driving Solutions School, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is hosting a class to educate students with their learners permit or license to be safer, smarter, more responsible drivers. The next class will be held March 22-23, 2014 at VIRginia International Raceway, about two hour drive from Richmond.

TDSS’s two-day course, the Safe Teen Driver Course, provides teens a mix of both hands-on behind-the-wheel training to improve vehicle control in a controlled setting, and a class curriculum focused on mental skills. While teenage drivers are in the classroom, parents are led by a master licensed relationship and communication expert who teaches key skills on how to best help new teenage drivers. As a child’s driving safety and skills are entirely in the parents’ hands, this program engages adults to learn simple, effective ways to teach their teen safe, responsible driving habits.

TDSS’s Safe Teen Driver Course registration is $595, covering both parent and teen participation.

Teen Driving Solutions School focuses on one primary goal: lowering the number of teenage deaths due to car crashes. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, teenage driving related automobile crashes are the primary cause of death for this age group. These teenage crashes also cause more than 400,000 teen injuries every year. As part of its mission throughout Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, the nonprofit offers the two-day classes, safe driving advocacy, and volunteer time for speaking engagements and clinics focused on alerting teenagers to the perils of texting or multitasking while driving.

While teenage drivers are in the classroom, parents are led by a master licensed relationship and communication expert, Dr. Dar Hawks, who teaches key skills on how to best help new teenage drivers. Parents then get a chance to drive with the same instructor teaching their teen, helping parents understand the skills that their child needs to learn and showing them simple, effective ways to teach and lead by example.

All TDSS classes and clinics are led by instructors with decades of experience helping people become safer drivers. The Safe Teen Driver Course is specifically designed for teens of at least 15 years of age who currently have a learner’s permit (or driver license) and a minimum of 20 hours supervised behind-the-wheel experience. Students and parents may use their own car or one of the TDSS’s training vehicles.

To learn more or to register for a class, visit http://teendrivingsolutions.org.