(photos by Tire Rack Street Survival)
Editor’s Note: The event date has changed to April 6.
Did you know that more than 5,000 youths ages 15 – 20 are involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes each year in the U.S.? With spring and wet weather rapidly approaching, teen drivers will be spending more time on the road, creating more potential for accidents.
Tire Rack Street Survival is a national non-profit and advanced teen drivers’ education program that teaches teens the skills they need to stay alive behind the wheel. Unlike traditional driver education programs based on classroom theory and simple maneuvers, the Tire Rack Street Survival program improves driver competence through hands-on experiences in real-world driving situations.
They are rolling into DFW on April 6 at Pennington Field located at 1501 Central Drive in Bedford. The program kicks off at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.
Simple driving errors, avoidable but common among inexperienced teens, cause the majority of fatal accidents. Tire Rack Street Survival event will include:
•A short classroom session for students and then will learn, hands-on, how to manage everyday driving hazards, obstacles and challenges in a controlled environment on an advanced driving course to ultimately ‘arrive alive.’
•Students learn emergency braking and skid control, how to control unintended oversteer and understeer, and how to avoid accidents entirely. In select schools, in addition to spending time in the driver’s seat of an 18-wheeler to fully comprehend its massive blind spots, teenagers witness the violent detonation of an air bag, which demonstrates the force of the explosive devices.
•Students are taught in their own cars, not specially prepared program vehicles, so that the skills they learn can be directly translated to their daily driving experiences. Tire Rack Street Survival challenges teenagers to understand how to control a vehicle, rather than just operate one.
Tire Rack Street Survival is open to licensed and permitted drivers ages 15 – 21. Forms, schedules and more information can be found online at http://www.streetsurvival.org. The cost is $75 per student and some insurance companies offer premium discounts to graduates.
A driving coach briefs students on the importance of understanding and maintaining their vehicles.( photos by Tire Rack Street Survival)
