WHEN AND WHEREGeorgia Teens Ride with PRIDE classes are scheduled for Jan. 28 and Feb. 18 at Georgia Northwestern Technical College in Calhoun, Ga. To register, contact the Calhoun Police Department at 706-629-1234 or by e-mail at sjolley@calnet-ga.net. Participating teens and at least one parent or guardian must be present during the entire two-hour course. There is no charge for participation. Space is limited.JOSHUA’S LAWBeginning in 2007, all 16-year-olds applying for a Class D driver’s license must complete an approved driver education course and 40 hours of supervised driving, including six hours of nighttime driving. Anyone who has not completed a driver education course must be at least 17 to be eligible for a Class D driver’s license and must have completed at least 40 hours of supervised driving, including at least six hours at night. Parents or guardians must provide sworn verification in writing that driving requirements have been met in either case.WHO WAS JOSHUA?Catersville, Ga., teen Joshua Brown was killed July 1, 2003, on a two-lane highway in the rain when his truck hit a puddle of water and crashed into a tree. Joshua didn’t have the skills he needed, so less than one year after their son’s death, parents Alan and LuGina Brown organized the Joshua Brown Foundation, which has provided driving simulators and training to Joshua’s former high school; developed a technologically advanced program to provide driver education for every teen; and pressed for passage of “Joshua’s Law” in the Georgia General Assembly.BY THE NUMBERSStudies show that automobile accidents account for more teen deaths than any other single cause. The cause of death among teens who died in 2009:35: Percent died in car crashes16: Percent died from suicide12: Percent died from homicide37: Percent died of “all other” causesSource: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Teens die from car crashes more often than any other cause, statistics show.
But a new program teams teens and parents to learn the best driving behaviors to better those odds, officials said.
A free program offered in Gordon County called Georgia Teens Ride with PRIDE (Parents Reducing Injuries and Driver Error) focuses on teens’ attitude behind the wheel and expectations in training, Calhoun Police Department Traffic Officer Adam Kilgore said.
Officer Kilgore said the program’s main function is to get parents and their teens on the same page en route to that first license.
During the program, parents often learn as much as their children when it come to the latest rules of the road and requirements of a driver’s license, he said. One bonus for adults is that many insurance companies offer discounts for parents whose teens participate in the program, he said.
Officer Kilgore noted that Ride with PRIDE aims to improve driver behavior but doesn’t replace state requirements for driver’s education or hands-on experience behind the wheel in the company of a licensed adult.
Nearly 1,000 high school freshmen and sophomores in Gordon County will become drivers over the next couple of years, records show. The Ride with PRIDE program bolsters driver education classes offered by Gordon County Schools, said Walter Pitts, the driver education director for the system.
The school district offers monthly driver’s education courses at Gordon Central and Sonoraville high schools. The classes include 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of instruction behind the wheel, Mr. Pitts said. Scholarships can help qualifying students with the $250 class fee.
Mr. Pitts said Ride with PRIDE’s approach to team teens and their parents is “a good idea, especially with driving” because parents and teens often have trouble establishing the driver-teacher relationship.
The free program fills some of the gaps and can only benefit young drivers, he said.