Teen drivers seeking to get their license or who recently got behind the wheel can hone up on their skills in an “Operation Driver Excellence” event on April 9 at Aloha Stadium.
Operation Driver Excellence is expected to attract dozens of students from schools across the island. The free event will be from 7:30 a.m. to noon and is open anyone under 19 who has a learner’s permit, provisional license or driver’s license and is accompanied by a parent driver. Teens who choose not to drive may participate in the learning stations.
DISTRACTED DRIVING
A study found 58 percent of vehicle crashes involving teen drivers, or nearly 6 out of 10 moderate-to-severe crashes involving teens, were the result of distractions. The most common distractions leading up to a crash included:
>> Interacting with one or more passengers: 15 percent of crashes
>> Cellphone use: 12 percent of crashes
>> Looking at something in the vehicle: 10 percent of crashes
>> Looking at something outside the vehicle: 9 percent of crashes
>> Singing or moving to music: 8 percent of crashes
>> Grooming: 6 percent of crashes
>> Reaching for an object: 6 percent of crashes
Source: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
In addition to a driving-skills course and a collision-avoidance course, the half-day event will include a distracted-driving course and learning stations on tire safety, blind zones around commercial vehicles, loading and hitching a trailer, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and impaired driving (alcohol and marijuana).
“Text messaging, taking phone calls while driving, even when hands free, and scrolling through emails are commonplace behaviors among drivers today,” said Par Hawaii President Jim Yates, whose organization oversees the statewide network of Tesoro and 76-branded retail stations. “The demands of our hectic lifestyle constantly compete for our attention and lead us to multitask as a way of life. Through the Operation Driver Excellence program, we want to stress that crashes involving hand-held electronic mobile devices while driving are preventable. No one wants to lose a son, daughter or friend.”
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The national organization said a 2013 study found that 2,163 teens in the United States between the ages 16 and 19 were killed and 243,243 were treated in emergency rooms for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. This translated to six teens dying every day from motor vehicle injuries.
“Unfortunately, Oahu and all of our other islands are not immune from teen motor vehicle crashes,” said Jan Meeker, resource teacher for the Hawaii State Driver Education Program. “The good news is that teen motor vehicle crashes are preventable.”
Operation Driver Excellence began 28 years ago by the Department of Education, the Hawaii Traffic Safety Education Association and Par Hawaii’s predecessor companies. The goal was to create a friendly competition among Hawaii’s teen drivers to test their knowledge of safe driving. The Oahu event was a competition between schools to showcase their best driver education students’ knowledge of safe driving through a written test, ability to maneuver through several obstacle courses and a road test.
“It’s always tragic when there is a motor vehicle crash involving young people when their lives are just getting started,” DTRIC Insurance President Michele Saito said. “If Operation Driver Excellence leaves a lasting impression on these students and their parents and helps to prevent even one accident, it makes it worthwhile to all of us in the community.”
