PRINCE FREDERICK, MD – The Calvert County Traffic Safety Council is bringing the nationally acclaimed New Driver Car Control Clinic® to the Greater Washington, D.C. area. A clinic is scheduled starting March 28th. The Clinic is a hands-on, behind-the-wheel program that teaches new drivers and their parents what to do when something goes terribly wrong in the traffic stream. More clinics are being added to the schedule at
www.carcontrol.com/wusa.htm.
According to the National Safety Council one in four teens crashes in their first year driving. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 85% of crashes involving a 16-year-old are driver error.
“We simply must do more to train our children how to handle emergency situations.”
“Traditional driver’s education simply does not address the critical skills required to handle the dangerous conditions every new driver encounters,” adds Debbie Jennings of the Calvert County Traffic Safety Council. “It is for this reason we welcome back The New Driver Car Control Clinic to our area.”
“I can think of no other issue in society,” says David Thompson, Clinic founder, “where bad behaviors and lack of training are costing more than $190 billion a year and we don’t have ribbons on our lapels, people marching in the streets, a national movement.” Thompson’s claim, borne out by statistical evidence, is that unless your brain is pre-programmed to react properly in a panic situation, you will panic, you will lock up the brakes and you will crash.
A four-year study of the crash experience of graduates of The New Driver Car Control Clinic shows that teens that completed The New Driver Car Control Clinic had 77% fewer crashes than their peers of the same age during the same years.
“This is the missing link in driver education,” Ms. Jennings says. “It goes beyond the basics, involves the parents and concentrates on teaching teen drivers what to expect and how to respond when their car enters the emergency zone.”
Each parent-student team (the Clinic does not accept a teen without a parent) attends a Friday evening classroom session from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and a four-hour behind-the-wheel session on either Saturday or Sunday using the family’s or teen’s own car. The cost is $169 per team and includes a 56-page workbook and 45-minute DVD, plus a certificate of completion for submission to an insurance company for a possible discount.
Reservations: http://www.carcontrol.com/wusa.htm
The Calvert Independent
