Contact: Jonathan Adkins at 202-789-0942

Dearborn, MI -- For teenagers, obtaining a driver's license is a significant rite of passage, a sign that they're growing up and ready to accept the responsibility of operating a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, this exciting time for teenagers can also be dangerous. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 6,000 teens die each year from injuries resulting from car crashes - making it the number one killer of teens in America. Yet, a recent national survey by Wirthlin Worldwide shows that many people underestimate the challenges novice drivers face. When asked, 56 percent of Americans named drug abuse as the leading health threat teenagers face, with only 13 percent identifying teen driving crashes as the number one threat.

To help raise awareness and fight back against this serious youth health issue, Ford Motor Company, along with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), today announced the launch of Real World Driver: Driving Skills for Life at a press conference in Dearborn, Michigan.

Susan Cischke, Kathryn Swanson, Don McNamara, Chief Geraci and Tony Bucko.

Real World Driver is a multi-year, educational campaign aimed at teens, parents and the education community. The program includes a teacher's guide, video and other materials that are being distributed to every public high school in the country (more than 20,000 schools). An interactive Web site -- www.realworlddriver.com -- also has been launched to give students and parents more information about driving skills and provide visitors the opportunity to take a quiz online for a chance to win exciting prizes.

"Unfortunately, car crashes remain the number one killer of our teens. Yet, the good news is that most of the crashes and resulting injuries and deaths could be prevented if teenagers better understood the necessary skills for safely driving motor vehicles," Susan Cischke, vice president of Environmental and Safety Engineering said at today's launch. "Real World Driver has been designed to illustrate for young drivers safe driving techniques in key areas that safety experts say are of particular importance to novice drivers."

Four Critical Driving Skills
To design the program, Ford and GHSA convened a distinguished panel of safety experts that included NHTSA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police Highway Safety Committee and The Transportation Safety Association. According to the Real World Driver Advisory Board*, the four key driving skills young drivers should master are: hazard recognition, vehicle handling, space management and speed management.

"Our Advisory Board identified specific actions, like left turns, that can turn deadly for teens due to their lack of awareness and experience in those areas," Cischke said. "Real World Driver's goal is to turn these four areas into four 'driving skills for life' by focusing on the skills that are most likely to prevent crashes and save teens' lives. But awareness is only part of the solution. There is no substitute for behind-the-wheel training and practice."

Graduated Licensing and Extended Education
Ford partnered with GHSA, which represents state highway safety offices, to ensure that Real World Driver is promoted in states and local communities. "We're excited to partner with Ford on this program and hope it will help states raise awareness of the teen driving issue as they work to strengthen their graduated driver's licensing laws," said GHSA Chair Kathryn Swanson. "We are also optimistic that Real World Driver will encourage teens to get more actual driving time with a focus on specific driving skills."

Ford, GHSA and other safety experts agree that the sensible way for teens to learn driving is to phase them into it. Most states now have graduated driver's licensing (GDL) laws that do just that, restrict driving in risky times and under risky circumstances until responsible performance is demonstrated over a period of time. Ford and GHSA support graduated driving laws, and hope Real World Driver will help augment them by offering guidance to parents and teens on what skills should be learned and practiced.

Wirthlin's research also indicated that just 11 percent of parents and 12 percent of all adults are satisfied with the training resources available to first-time drivers. Moreover, nearly all parents (94 percent) are concerned about their teens driving independently. "Parents are justly concerned that their young drivers aren't receiving enough supervised time behind the wheel before they take to the nation's busy streets and highways alone, and with friends," said NHTSA Regional Administrator Don McNamara. "Programs like Real World Driver can give teens more practice in useful safe driving skills."

Today's launch of Real World Driver at Ford Motor Company's Dearborn Proving Ground also included a hands-on safe driving demonstration for a group of Michigan teens. Each teen was paired with a driving expert from Car and Driver magazine in order to gain experience in the four skill areas:

• Hazard Recognition: Recognizing and anticipating hazards, such as distractions and intersections, and dealing with them successfully. Safe techniques for approaching and turning left at intersections are examples of what is addressed.
• Vehicle Handling: Learning how to handle different vehicles competently under a range of driving circumstances and maneuvers. Vehicle balance, type and braking are all covered.
• Space Management: Maintaining safe spacing with other traffic and managing space in an emergency. This section addresses the importance of positioning your vehicle safely in traffic.
• Speed Management: Driving at speeds that are right for conditions and maintaining control in dangerous situations such as skids. Issues addressed are centered on knowing the road, letting others know your intentions and knowing how to react to other drivers' actions.

Ford, GHSA and Car and Driver will take the demonstrations on the road this fall to major cities around the country to ensure that teens nationwide have the opportunity to practice the four critical driving skills first-hand.

Buckle Up
While hands-on, behind-the-wheel training and educational materials are important elements of any safe driving program, Cischke reminds all drivers that safety belts continue to provide the single, most effective protection in any vehicle crash.

"Parents should insist that their teenagers buckle up," Cischke says. "The safety belt is the single best way to avoid getting hurt in a crash. In addition, teens need to be reminded constantly that it is illegal for anyone under 21 to drink, much less to drink and drive."

###

NOTE: Photos from the event will be available for download for your free and unrestricted use at www.realworlddriver.com/ shortly after the event concludes.

See also GHSA's Real World Driver site

* Real World Driver Advisory Board members include representatives from the following organizations: Ford Motor Company; the Governors Highway Safety Association; Great American; The Hartford; International Association of Chiefs of Police, Highway Safety Committee; Liberty Mutual Insurance; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Students Against Destructive Decisions; Top Driver; Transportation Safety Association; Travelers Property Casualty; and Young Drivers.

** A nationally representative sample of one thousand and one (1001) interviews was conducted among the general public during December 13 - 16, 2002. For a sample of this size, the error due to sampling is +3.1 percentage points. Included in the nationally representative general public sample were 185 parents of teens. To ensure that there was a representative size of parents of teenage children WirthlinWorldwide conducted an oversample of 175 interviews with parents of teens, for a total of 360. For a sample of this size, the error due to sampling is +5.2. When reporting on American adults, we are referring to the total sample of 1001, excluding the oversample of parents of teens. When reporting on parents of teens we are reporting on the total sample of 360 parents of teenagers.

Real World Driver - 50 State Statistics
15-20 year olds killed in automobile crashes

Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration