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CNN Live At Daybreak
New Safety Program for Young Drivers
Aired May 09, 2003 - 05:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, with thousands of teens dying on America's roads every year, a new safety program for young drivers has started up.
Patty Davis takes us along for a ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixteen-year-old Mahrisa Johnson just got her driver's license a month ago.
MAHRISA JOHNSON, TEEN DRIVER: My friends, they drive really recklessly. I think I'm a more, more of a cautious driver and aware.
DAVIS: An awareness her dad says he taught her behind the wheel, on top of what she learned in school.
JEROME JOHNSON, FATHER: Well, I was really intense on teaching her to drive responsibly.
DAVIS: It's a lesson that could save Mahrisa's life. Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for teens age 15 to 20. More than 6,000 die every year. A new $6 million driver program launched by Ford and others aims to help teens hone their road skills with hands on experience navigating speed and hazards.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brake before the turn and then accelerate through the turn.
DAVIS: Twenty thousand public schools are getting this video on safe driving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know you're going to stop.
DAVIS: Experts say traditional driver education programs are not successful at stopping teens from making bad decisions, like speeding and driving drunk.
SUSAN FERGUSON, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: There's been a lot of research that shows that driver education may be useful in teaching basic driving skills, but it really doesn't do much more than that. It does not improve driver safety.
DAVIS (on camera): But another attempt at cutting teen deaths has had dramatic results. It's called graduated driver licensing. It first appeared in 1996 and is now in 37 states and the District of Columbia. (voice-over): Teens in those states at first drive only with an adult, then graduate into driving alone, but only during daytime hours. And because studies show crash risk goes up with the number of teen passengers, teens in some states can't carry any passengers under 21. BELLA DINH-ZARR, AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION: Fatal crashes have been reduced in states that have passed a graduated driver's licensing law up to 30 percent.
DAVIS: Under Maryland's graduated driver's licensing program, Mahrisa hopes to get her full, unrestricted license next year.
MAHRISA JOHNSON: Freedom.
DAVIS: Freedom she's learned comes with responsibility to drive safely.
Patty Davis, CNN, Forestville, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 9, 2003 - 05:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, with thousands of teens dying on America's roads every year, a new safety program for young drivers has started up.
Patty Davis takes us along for a ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixteen-year-old Mahrisa Johnson just got her driver's license a month ago.
MAHRISA JOHNSON, TEEN DRIVER: My friends, they drive really recklessly. I think I'm a more, more of a cautious driver and aware.
DAVIS: An awareness her dad says he taught her behind the wheel, on top of what she learned in school.
JEROME JOHNSON, FATHER: Well, I was really intense on teaching her to drive responsibly.
DAVIS: It's a lesson that could save Mahrisa's life. Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for teens age 15 to 20. More than 6,000 die every year. A new $6 million driver program launched by Ford and others aims to help teens hone their road skills with hands on experience navigating speed and hazards.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brake before the turn and then accelerate through the turn.
DAVIS: Twenty thousand public schools are getting this video on safe driving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know you're going to stop.
DAVIS: Experts say traditional driver education programs are not successful at stopping teens from making bad decisions, like speeding and driving drunk.
SUSAN FERGUSON, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: There's been a lot of research that shows that driver education may be useful in teaching basic driving skills, but it really doesn't do much more than that. It does not improve driver safety.
DAVIS (on camera): But another attempt at cutting teen deaths has had dramatic results. It's called graduated driver licensing. It first appeared in 1996 and is now in 37 states and the District of Columbia. (voice-over): Teens in those states at first drive only with an adult, then graduate into driving alone, but only during daytime hours. And because studies show crash risk goes up with the number of teen passengers, teens in some states can't carry any passengers under 21. BELLA DINH-ZARR, AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION: Fatal crashes have been reduced in states that have passed a graduated driver's licensing law up to 30 percent.
DAVIS: Under Maryland's graduated driver's licensing program, Mahrisa hopes to get her full, unrestricted license next year.
MAHRISA JOHNSON: Freedom.
DAVIS: Freedom she's learned comes with responsibility to drive safely.
Patty Davis, CNN, Forestville, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
