This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

'Drive to Stay Alive' Goes Countywide

Program developed in Peters attracts nearly 100 teenagers to learn safe driving.

What began as an idea between a local chiropractor and the  four years ago, to teach teenagers to become better drivers, has grown to become a countywide program, and could soon become a model for the state.

“Drive to Stay Alive,” a program developed in Peters by Dr. Timothy Skraitz, with the assistance of police Chief Harry Fruecht and Officer David Stanton, moved beyond the township borders on Saturday.

Nearly 100 teenage drivers from nearly every school district in the county attended the program held at Consol Energy Field in Washington to learn defensive driving skills in order to stay safe on the roads.

Find out what's happening in Peterswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The program had its beginnings in the parking lot of in 2007, and became an instant success.

“As the word got out about the program, more and more students and parents became interested and now it has become countywide,” Skraitz said. “Our hope is to take this program not only countywide, but statewide and maybe even nationwide.”

Find out what's happening in Peterswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Skraitz said he conceived the idea for the program a number of years ago while visiting San Diego to watch crash tests of vehicles and how they rated.

“After attending the course for several years, I would see how people became injured, and began to think of how cars could be made safer, and the passengers safer as well,” he said.

Skraitz, who said he has always had a passion in keeping young people safe, brought his idea to Stanton and Fruecht.

"They bought into it immediately, and began the program each year in the township."

The focus of the program was to help teenage drivers to develop safe driving habits, such as use of turn signals, defensive driving techniques and avoiding distractions, such as talking and texting on cell phones while driving.

“Our whole goal is to get kids to drive safer and stay out of accidents,” Skraitz said. “The reason we do it this time of year is because it’s prom season and graduation. May to October are the highest incident months for teen motor vehicle collisions, and unfortunately, teen deaths."

Skraitz cited AAA figures showing that the accident rate in Pennsylvania grew 5.4 percent in 2010, while the teen death rate grew 40 percent.

“That’s totally unacceptable," he said. "Teens are driving to sporting events, they’re texting on the phone and eating, and that is part of the reason we put 'Drive to Stay Alive' in effect.”

Teenagers attending the weekend program received classroom instruction, as well as practical experience behind the wheel with volunteer instructors who also train police and FBI agents in defensive driving skills.

The teen drivers used the Consol Energy Field parking lot as their course, which included tactics on swerving, braking, slalom and reaction braking. Teens were also shown how using a cell phone to talk and text while driving impairs their ability to drive safely.

Another course was used in which the teen drivers were taught how to compensate if their car goes into a skid, and how regain control the vehicle.

“Our intent all along was to try and expand the program to reach more kids, and we accomplished that with taking the program countywide,” Chief Fruecht said.

“We do a lot of different programs, and this might be the craziest one that we do, but it’s very worthwhile. It gives the kids an opportunity to learn some skills and get some actual in-seat experience, which they might be able to use to avoid an accident.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?