Highway Safety, Safe Driving Tips, Teens

The Deadliest Season

It’s begun: the “100 Deadliest Days” of the year for teen drivers is upon us.  Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, an average of 399 teens will die each month, according to statistics reported by AAA.  The rest of the year averages more than 50 fewer deaths monthly.  That’s an average of 16 teens killed in car crashes every single day all summer long.

Summer starts with proms and graduations, then opens up for beach trips, mountain escapes and spontaneous road trips.  According to AAA, the seven most dangerous days on the road for teens during summer are May 20, May 23, June 10, July 4, July 9, Aug. 8 and Aug. 14.

What can parents do to keep their teens safe?

To keep teens safe during these dangerous months and year round, AAA Insurance suggests the following tips for parents:

  • Eliminate trips without purpose.
  • Limit passengers. Fatal crash rates for 16- to 19-year-olds increase fivefold when two or more teen passengers are present versus when teens drive alone.
  • Restrict night driving. A teen driver’s chances of being involved in a deadly crash doubles at night.
  • Establish a parent-teen driving agreement. Written agreements help set and enforce clear rules about night driving, passengers, access to the car, and more.
  • Enroll teens in summer driving school.   If your teen earned their license within the past year, a refresher in defensive driving could help save their life.
  • Be there. Make sure your teen knows that if they need help, advice or a ride, they can call you at any time. Extend this offer often and let your teen know that you are always available, and that they will not be judged or punished should they need your help.

MADD also suggests:

  • Talk about alcohol.  Talk with your teens about not drinking alcohol until they are 21 and never get in the car with someone who has been drinking.
  • Buckle up. Insist on seat belts at all times and in all seating positions. Low seat belt use is one of the primary reasons that teen driver and passenger fatality and injury rates remain high.
Student Performance

Student Statistics

Modern Driver Institute began accepting and training students on 14 September 2015. During the first 9 months of operations, a total of 46 individuals enrolled as students. The following breakdown looks at general statistics for the student pool.

Age of Students:

  • Students under 18 years of age (minors): 14 (31.1% of total)
  • Students 18 and over (adults): 32 (68.9% of total)
  • Age Range: 16-79
  • Median Age: 21

Gender of Students:

  • Male: 21 (45.7% of total)
  • Female: 25 (54.3% of total)

Training Concerns:

  • Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): 25 (55.6% of total)
  • Students with Anxiety: 23 (53.3% of total)
  • Students with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): 8 (17.8% of total)
  • Students with Bi Polar Disorder: 5 (11.1% of total)
  • Students with Tourettes Disorder: 1 (2.2% of total)
  • Students with Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): 1 (2.2% of total)
  • Neurotypical individuals: 20 (44.4% of total)

countiesResidency of Students:

  • Montgomery County: 29 (62.2% of total)
  • Bucks County: 12 (26.7% of total)
  • Chester County: 3 (6.7% of total)
  • Berks County: 1 (2.2% of total)
  • Luzerne County: 1 (2.2% of total)

License Status At Time of Enrollment:

  • Students with PA Learner’s Permits: 42 (91.3% of total)
  • Students with PA Driver’s License: 4 (8.7% of total)
  • Students who earned PA Driver’s License: 18 (39.9% of total)
  • Average Number of BTW Hours Per Student: 11.26

Performance At Test:

  • Students who attempted PA Driver’s License Test: 18
  • Students who passed PA Driver’s License Test on first try: 16 (88.8% of total)
  • Students who passed on second attempt: 1 (100% of total)

Testing Centers:

  • Huntingdon Valley: 9 (50% of total)
  • Malvern: 6 (33% of total)
  • Dublin: 1 (5% of total)
  • Easton: 1 (5% of total)
  • Bensalem: 1 (5% of total)
Automotive Technology, Teen Drivers

MDI Car Care Clinic Pre-Registration

This summer, Modern Driver Institute will provide Car Care Clinic sessions, which will teach new drivers how to:

  • change a flat tire
  • safely use jumper cables
  • safely use road flares
  • check fluid levels
  • diagnose vehicle trouble

The MDI Car Care Clinic will be held once a month on a Saturday, and will be about 3 hours in length.  Enrollment will be limited to 12 participants per session.  All participants will receive an emergency kit for their trunk!  Location and dates to be announced shortly.

If you’re interested, complete the pre-registration form below and we’ll contact you as soon as the classes are announced.

MDI Car Care Clinic Pre-Registration
Sending
Safe Driving Tips

Legacy of the Titanic

This week, the world is remembering the fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic, which sank in the icy waters of the North Atlantic in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Considered “unsinkable”, the mighty ship went down in less than two hours. More than fifteen hundred lives were lost, and transportation safety changed forever.

 

Titanic was actually built to handle 64 wooden lifeboats, but carried only 16 – the minimum required by law for a vessel of that size. The ship’s crew were poorly trained in evacuation procedures, and both passengers and crew regarded the ship as “unsinkable” – which led to many lifeboats departing Titanic nearly empty. Titanic was speeding in poor visibility conditions and ignoring warnings about icebergs in its path. Many people died that night simply because they were unwilling to consider the possibility of an emergency.

This idea that “accidents can’t happen” or “accidents won’t happen to me” leads people every day to take all kinds of needless risks while driving. Many people still don’t bother taking three seconds to buckle up, despite the proven ability of this one simple act to save a life, because they aren’t considering the possibility of catastrophe every time they get in the car. Many people still speed, some even in poor visibility. Many people still send and receive text messages while driving – I saw two people doing it yesterday – despite the incredible danger it poses. Texting while driving is like speeding an ocean liner through icy waters while ignoring all warnings about the danger: it’s killed others in crashes, so don’t think of yourself as “unsinkable”.

Traffic crashes in Pennsylvania alone kill almost as many people as the Titanic tragedy every single year.

This week, think about the tragedy of the “unsinkable” Titanic. Think about your habits and behaviors behind the wheel – are you prepared for a crash every time you get in the car, or do you drive thinking you’re “unsinkable”?

Teens

The Facts: PA Young Driver Licensing

Pennsylvania licenses young drivers through a three-stage program, reflecting the driver’s gradual progression in skill, experience and decision-making ability.

LEARNER’S PERMIT

After successfully completing a physical examination, vision screening and knowledge test, young drivers may begin behind-the-wheel practice. Basic driving skills and safe habits are developed under adult-supervised conditions. Requirements under the law include:

  • Six months of learning: A six-month skill-building period to practice and gain experience is required before a young driver may take the road test for a junior license.
  • Supervising adult for permit holder must be at least 21: An experienced, licensed driver aged 21 or older must accompany the young driver at all times.
  • 65 hours of adult-supervised skill building: A parent or guardian must certify (Parent or Guardian Certification Form (DL-180C)) that the young driver’s six months of skill building included at least 65 hours of practical, adult-supervised driving experience.
  • Nighttime driving restriction begins at 11:00 PM: The young driver may not be behind the wheel between the hours of 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM. Young drivers may travel for employment and for volunteer or charitable service during these hours, but they must carry proper documentation.
  • Passenger limitation: The number of passengers must not exceed the number of seat belts in the vehicle. This applies to all drivers under age 18.
  • Learner’s permit valid for one year: The learner’s permit will be valid for one year with extensions for those requiring more practice time.
  • Required sanctions for high-risk drivers under age 18: A young driver’s permit will be suspended for 90 days if he or she accumulates six or more points or is convicted of a single high-speed violation (driving 26 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit).

JUNIOR LICENSE

Young drivers who graduate to a junior license have satisfactorily completed all learner’s permit requirements, including the road test, but the following restrictions still apply:

  • Required sanctions for high-risk drivers under age 18: A young driver’s junior license will be suspended for 90 days if he or she accumulates six or more points or is convicted of a single high-speed violation (driving 26 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit).
  • Nighttime driving restriction begins at 11:00 PM: Even with a junior license, a young driver may not be behind the wheel between the hours of 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM. Exceptions for employment and volunteer or charitable service will apply, but young drivers must carry proper documentation regarding their need to travel.
  • Passenger limitation: The number of passengers must not exceed the number of seat belts in the vehicle. This applies to all drivers under age 18.

UNRESTRICTED LICENSE

A full, unrestricted license – typically issued at age 18 – provides unlimited driving privileges to teenagers who have progressed through the graduated system and have an established history of safe driving, If certain conditions are met, some young drivers may qualify for an early license before age 18.

  • Unrestricted license before age 18: A young driver cannot obtain an unrestricted license before age 18 unless he or she has maintained a crash-and conviction-free record for 12 months and has completed an approved driver’s education course. To apply for an unrestricted license before age 18, young drivers must complete a special form, DL-59, and submit it to PennDOT along with a certificate of completion from an approved driver’s education course.  An affidavit of consent from a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis or spouse who is at least 18 years of age must also be provided.
  • Passenger limitation: The number of passengers must not exceed the number of seat belts in the vehicle. This applies to all drivers under age 18.
  • Required sanctions for high-risk drivers under age 18: A young driver’s unrestricted license will be suspended for 90 days if he or she accumulates six or more points or is convicted of a single high-speed violation (driving 26 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit).
Safe Driving Tips, Teens

Just In Case: Don’t Forget ICE

No one plans to be in a car crash, but they happen.  On average, more than 8,000 people are injured in car accidents every day.

If you’re hurt in a car crash, you may not be conscious, or you may not be coherent.  Emergency personnel and first responders need to know how to contact your family if something has happened to you.  The easiest way for them to do this is with your own cell phone.

You can make it easy for police and EMTs to contact your family by adding ICE contacts to your cell phone.  ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency” – they’re trained to look for these alphabetically in your address book.

Create a new contact that looks like this:

ICE Mom 215-555-1212

Begin the entry with “ICE” and follow it with some descriptive context for who the person is to you – mom, dad, uncle, husband, wife, etc.  Add more than one ICE contact if needed.

Autism, Autism And Driving, Highway Safety, Teens

Autistic Teens Want To Drive

A study released by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Center For Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) looks at teens with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders and driving.  They found that, among their sample of 300 teens, two-thirds are already driving or expect to drive.

“As a clinician who specializes in children with disabilities, I was interested to find that so many teens with high functioning autism spectrum disorders want to drive and do,” says Patty Huang, MD, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at CHOP and the lead author of the study. “We need to help them. Establishing a few indicators for these teens that will likely have an interest in driving is the first step in developing targeted strategies and interventions to support them and their families.”

The findings suggest that parents of teens with HFASDs would benefit from guidance in deciding if driving is the right choice for their individual family. Readiness to drive can be difficult to assess, and parents should be encouraged to seek the help of their child’s physician, an occupational therapist or driving instructor.

Modern Driver Institute is the only driver education provider in Pennsylvania that specializes in working with individuals with autism.   We recommend that driving goals be incorporated into your student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Drive Better