Teen driving course helps prevent accidents

A teen driver safety program through the non-profit Tire Rack Street Survival is teaching young drivers how to prevent or act in a driving emergency today at Lincoln Air Park. 

“We make them do these maneuvers where the coach will call out without warning what to do like steer left or right and we’ll have them do it while texting. And no one succeeds at that and they realize oh this is not possible,” instructor Stephen Ducharme said. 

Texting while driving is a dangerous activity both teens and adults need to shake. It causes the driver to become distracted and affects the response time if they were to get in an emergency. 

The course also puts them through various road situations and how to react properly without having to think. It practices controlled skids, changing lanes in the instance of a hazard and how to formulate a proper response to various driving conditions or outcomes. 

“As drivers of the world and maybe parents. I like to tell them the life you save may be your own or maybe mine. Either way, you need to do this,” Ducharme said. 

Tire rack street survival is the largest active non–profit national driver education program that teaches teens the skills they need to stay alive behind the wheel.

The program is in its 16th year having trained over 25,000 new drivers, in over 1,000 schools.