WEBVTT

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- [Narrator] Turning sweet
16 is an important benchmark

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in a teen's life,

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but with driving comes
great responsibility

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and too often, great tragedy.

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In 2003, more than 6,000
teens died in car crashes.

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163 of those teens were
on Virginia roadways.

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With these numbers
steadily rising each year,

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dangerous driving among
teens has become a serious

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public health problem.

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- Teen driving is the number
one killer of teenagers

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and I think it's because
of the immaturity,

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inexperience and the
attitude of: I'm a teenager,

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nothing can happen to me.

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I'm invincible.

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- [Narrator] Across the
country, the high crash rate

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is attributed to many factors including:

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driver inexperience, driver distractions,

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excessive speed, low use of safety belts,

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and the use of alcohol and drugs.

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However, these contributing
factors are worsened

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by teens' natural attraction to risk,

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and their it won't happen to me, attitude.

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As a result, teens are more
likely to underestimate

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dangerous situations
because of their cognitive

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and physiological inability
to assess, manage,

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and avoid risk.

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- Driver distractions is a big issue.

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It's a big issue for all drivers.

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What's particularly challenging
for the younger driver,

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and I mean the younger
driver based on age,

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is the physiological fact,
now many young drivers

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don't wanna hear this,
but the physiological fact

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that the brain is not fully
developed until the early 20's.

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What that physically does
for the young driver,

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is makes multi-tasking more difficult.

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- [Narrator] The number of
fatalities among adolescents

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will continue to increase,

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as the number of licensed
drivers in this age group

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continues to grow.

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Only by raising awareness of this problem,

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can we influence the way teens drive.

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Prince William County
Public Schools and the

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Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

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has launched Teen Smart
Driver: a Teen-Safe Community

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Health Initiative.

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This state-wide program,
strives to save the lives

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of teenagers through
education and awareness

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of risky driving behavior.

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The program has developed a
media campaign: Dying to Drive.

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The campaign targets teen
through radio and television

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public service announcements
and educational

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resources such as the
Dying to Drive website.

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- Our first target were teens,
but after extensive research,

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we found out that the
most important influence

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around teen behavior were parents.

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- [Narrator] Parents have
the greatest influence

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over their teens' driving
habits, behaviors and skills.

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Prince William and Stafford
Counties have expanded

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on the role of parents as
partners by involving them

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in the driver education process.

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Troubled by a cluster of
teen crashes and fatalities

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in Stafford County, the
local government initiated

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a task-force to study
and make recommendations

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on teen driving.

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Teen-Smart Driver
provided input on the role

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parents can play as teens begin to drive.

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As a result, the
task-force issued a report,

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and seven recommendations were proposed.

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- One of the recommendations
of the task force

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was to have a required parent meeting,

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so that we could do a
really good parent awareness

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campaign, and give them
tips on how to keep their

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teens more safe.

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- [Narrator] The 90 minute
meetings are a collaborative

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effort between the school districts,

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the county police and insurance agencies,

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including Geico and Allstate.

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The meetings are designed
to inform parents on

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driver education curriculum,
Virginia laws as they

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pertain to teens, methods
of coaching the teen driver,

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and the basics of
insuring their new driver.

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However, the meetings also
feature emotional testimony

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from parents like Mark and Kay Dudenhefer,

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who lost their daughter,
Emily, to a car crash.

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- We found that parents have a tendency,

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as their child grows older, to think that

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they should be less and less involved,

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and I think we've, the
lesson we've learned

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is that as child grows
older, they should become

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more involved, not less
involved in their training

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and in their education and in the schools,

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and in every aspect of the child's life.

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- [Narrator] Prince William
County has also adopted

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this mandatory program.

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Both counties have
implemented the meetings

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into their driver education curriculum.

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Parents must attend the
meetings before their teen

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can participate in the county's
Behind the Wheel programs.

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- We're gonna focus really
hard on trying to get parents

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involved, get them in here
and let them understand

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their responsibility in
the education process.

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- [Narrator] And although
attendance is obligatory,

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the program has been
well-received by parents.

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- Parent education is the key.

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Parents want to be informed about the best

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approaches they can use,
as they help their teen

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through this dangerous rite of passage.

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Teen-Smart Driver and the
programs in Stafford and

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Prince William Counties
are in the forefront

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of proactive and dynamic programs built on

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community cooperation.

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- [Narrator] For more
information, or to learn

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how you can get involved, please visit

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www.dying2drive.org or the
school division's website

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for Prince William or Stafford Counties.