Driving Safety Home Page

Drive By Example is a community service organization dedicated to advancing driver safety through initiatives that address America’s most important roadway safety priorities, including distracted driving prevention and teen driver protection.

Drive By Example works with schools, business firms, associations, community groups, and others to develop and implement effective driving safety programs. The DBE program provides the platform for a sustained, comprehensive driver safety campaign that is geared to raise driver competency and improve the overall driving culture.    

In contrast to many traditional driver safety campaigns, which target certain negative driving behaviors, the Drive By Example safety message applies to all drivers at every stage of life.  Whether a teenager, young adult, or parent, our core objective is for all drivers to model the safe driving habits and behaviors that protect themselves, their passengers, and others on the roadway.

In 2013 Drive By Example is expanding to include 3 primary driving safety initiatives. For details, go to Driving Safety Initiatives.   

Recent Driving Safety Update

What can parents do to protect the lives of young teen drivers on the highway?

Parents Hold the Key to Curb Recent Surge in Teen Driver Fatalities, says Expert

An interview with Driving Safety Expert Douglas R. Horn, Founder of Drive By Example

Even with the passing of teen driver protection and anti-texting laws, the Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has reported a 19 percent surge in new teen driver fatalities for the first half of 2012.¹

Many experts are attributing the uptrend in teen fatalities to increased road use by young drivers due to an improved economy.  But driving safety expert Douglas R. Horn says the GSHA’s numbers are telling him a different story.

We have a soaring number of new teen driver fatalities because parents are setting bad examples for their children on the roadways,” says Horn, a Kansas City crash attorney and founder of Drive by Example.  “Studies show that kids emulate the attitudes and behaviors of their parents, and this fact is no more evident than in the area of distracted driving.”

Horn says a recent 2013 local survey of adult drivers conducted by the TREDS Program at the University of San Diego revealed that an alarming number of adults - 82 percent - reported using a phone while driving.  The researchers also found that 63 percent of parents with children aged 12 to 17 used a phone while their children were riding in the car, and 31 percent texted while their children were riding in the car.²

“With so many parents failing to set good examples for their children, it’s easy to see why so many 16 and 17-year-old drivers chose to disregard both the law and common sense to talk, text, and interact with smart phones applications while behind-the-wheel, instead of being fully attentive to the task of operating their vehicle,” says Horn.

Horn says the solution to reducing the number of new teen driver deaths on the highway is twofold:

1.     Distracted driving prevention efforts directed at adult drivers:

“The need to be ‘connected’ to friends, family, and co-workers combined with the proliferation of smart phones has placed adult drivers in “a new universe of risk” for experiencing violent impact and serious injury on the highway,” says Horn.  “Most adults, when accurately informed about the heightened risk of severe injury and fatality associated with distracted driving, will take the necessary steps, including correcting their behind-the-wheel behavior, to protect themselves and their families.  A parent properly educated about the dangers of distracted driving becomes a better role model and instructor for the child, and will have a positive impact on that child’s driving.”

2.     Strengthen teen driver protection laws by requiring parent participation

In addition to stepping up distracted driving prevention campaigns aimed at parents, Horn says we also need to strengthen state Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws, which regulate the teen driver licensing process.  “Typically, these laws place restrictions on the teen’s late night driving and set passenger limits. However, most states fail to engage parents in the process,” says Horn.  “This is a big mistake, especially because we are heavily relying on parents to enforce the state's GDL restrictions.”

As an example of a successful GDL program, Horn points to Massachusetts , a state he says is “at the top of the charts” when it comes to implementing programs that engage and educate parents to forward teen driver protection.

“The Massachusetts laws require that parents of new teen drivers attend a two-hour class to brush up on the rules of the road and review safe driving practices,” says Horn.  “By taking part in this training session, parents are better prepared to intelligently instruct and advise their child during their child’s 40 hours of parentally-supervised highway driving required by the state.”

Horn suggests the two-hour parental training class required by the Massachusetts law may help to explain why Massachusetts teen driver deaths in the 16-17 year old category recently declined while the rest of the states experienced a 19% surge.

“We feel these strategies will be most effective in protecting America ’s most vulnerable class of drivers,” says Horn.  “Parents hold the keys in more ways than you might think.”  

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Refs:

1.      http://www.ghsa.org/html/media/pressreleases/2013/20130226teens.html

2.     http://treds.ucsd.edu/?page_id=1350