Contact: Jonathan Adkins
at 202-789-0942

(Dearborn, MI) - As millions of teenagers head back to school this month, the Ford Motor Company and the Governors Highway Safety Association are focusing on the issue of safe teen driving by promoting their Real World Driver: Driving Skills for Life program to principals of every public high school in the country (20,000).

According to 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.

Originally launched and sent to all public high schools last spring, Real World Driver is a multi-year, educational campaign aimed at teens, parents and the education community. The program includes a half-hour video, teacher's guide, brochures, posters and an interactive Web site -- www.realworlddriver.com -- that provide teachers, students and parents with more information about driving skills, including an e-learning activity and online quiz for a chance to win one of more than $75,000 worth of exciting prizes. This fall, a second mailing will go out to the schools reminding them about the program and how to access the materials.

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

Preliminary feedback from teachers and students has demonstrated the program's effectiveness. To date more than 500 teacher response cards have been received from all 50 states. Reports indicate that the materials are being shown by at least two to three teachers per school to an average of 167 students per school, reaching a total of approximately 3 million students nationwide. In addition, teachers give the materials, especially the in-class video, high marks with an average rating of 4.4 on a scale from 1 to 5.

Similarly, since the program's launch in May, the program's Web site has received an average of 4,000 visitors a week.

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 feel strongly it will help raise awareness of the teen driving issue among parents, teachers and students," said GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha. "We are also optimistic that Real World Driver will encourage teens to get more supervised driving time with a focus on specific driving skills."

In addition to the September refresher mailing to all public high schools, Ford and GHSA will host various regional press events and Ride and Drives this fall, as well as exhibit, speak and/or sponsor various events. The tentative schedule of events is:

September 6-10
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators Annual Meeting
Philadelphia, PA

September 11-14
Mothers Against Drunk Driving National Conference
New Orleans, LA

September 25
Congressional Black Caucus
Washington, DC

October 16
MA Real World Driver Launch
Boston, MA

October 22
GA Real World Driver Launch
Atlanta, GA

November 21
CA Real World Driver Launch
San Francisco, CA

November 23-November 30
San Francisco Auto Show

For more information on Real World Driver please visit www.realworlddriver.com.

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