HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010_10_14_National Teen Driver Safety Week
BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE Greg Williamson, Chief of Police ________________________________________________________________________ Contacts: Sergeant Mary DeGeare
Greg Sherlock Public Information Officer State Farm/Public Affairs 661-326-3803 661-478-1331 mdegeare@Bakersfieldpd.us greg.sherlock.pqby@statefarm.com For Immediate Release October
14, 2010 National Teen Driver Safety Week is October 17th-23rd The Bakersfield Police Department, State Farm and the California Office of Traffic Safety are partnering with the “A Life
Interrupted” Program (ALI) to bring awareness to National Teen Driver Safety Week by hosting ALI presentations at high schools and junior highs throughout Kern County. The first two
presentations will be at Stockdale High School on Monday, October 18th. The media is invited to attend the second presentation at Stockdale which begins Monday at 9:27 a.m. and concludes
at 10:19 a.m. A press conference will follow at 10:30 a.m. This year, an added guest to those presentations will be 25 year old Tyler Presnell, a survivor of a violent car crash 11 years
ago. The driver of Tyler’s car was careless and Tyler was not wearing a seat belt. With more than 20 surgeries and the daunting task of learning how to walk, talk, and eat again, Tyler
brings his real life story to thousands of Kern County students during National Teen Driver Safety Week. Tyler will be available at the press conference as well. The following information
from State Farm shows that October remains the most dangerous month for teen crashes, and that although their surveys show 70% of new drivers are nervous about being in a crash or hurting
someone; 57% say they drive while texting and this is part of the message that will be shared during the week. According to insurance claims data spanning the last seven years, the highest
number of injury or collision claims filed by 16-and 17-year old drivers continues to hit a high point in October, spiking by about 15 percent when compared to other months of the year.
State Farm evaluated its extensive claims database from 2003 – 2009, and in every year, October continues to register the most claims across the United States and portions of Canada.
At a state level, about 1 in 4 states show October as the most dangerous month of the year for teen crashes. About 70 percent of states show October as being among its top three months
for teen accident claims. In California, 9.5 percent of teen car crashes occur in October, the second highest monthly crash rate.
Given the prevalence of teen car crashes in October, beginning in 2007, State Farm and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia worked with Congress to designate the third week of October
as National Teen Driver Safety Week. Having a dedicated week provides a unique opportunity to focus attention on this national problem. The week serves as a time set aside for parents,
teens, educators and legislators to shine a spotlight on teen driver safety and ramp up conversations about solutions for the high rate of car crashes involving teens. Across the country
this week, hundreds of State Farm agents and employees will be participating in teen driver safety activities in their local communities. The “A Life Interrupted” presentations this
week, and future presentations throughout 2011, are made possible by grant funding through the California Office of Traffic Safety. ####