PRESS RELEASE: NYS PTA Announces New Partnership to Increase Student Traffic Safety

The Skip Barber Driving Academy teaches the survival skills needed to safely handle today’s challenging road conditions over the course of one full day. Using our time-tested professional techniques, everyone in the family can benefit – from the teenage driver to the more experienced enthusiast. Each course is a carefully constructed combination of classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction in an exciting variety of passenger vehicles. Participants have the time of their lives – and learn the skills that could save them!

The Skip Barber Driving Academy is a proud partner of the New York State Parent-Teacher Association.

Driving Academy Curriculum

  • Vehicle Dynamics: Weight transfer, tire contact patch, and “string theory”
  • Vision: Where, when, and why you look
  • Braking: ABS & threshold braking, plus the relationship between braking and turning
  • Skid Pad: Recognizing, correcting, and recovering from a slide
  • The Open Road: Following distance, lead time, and emergency lane changes
  • Hydroplaning: How to react and how not to react
  • Maintenance: The critical aspects of tire and vehicle care
  • Distractions: The dangers and risks of distracted driving
  • Autocross: A miniature racecourse that puts the entire curriculum into practice

The Scale of the Problem

AAA Northeast analyzed young driver crash data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, finding 46,420 drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 were involved in crashes in New York last year — equivalent to one crash every 12 minutes.

In the United States, teenagers drive less than all but the oldest people, but the number of crash deaths are disproportionately high.

The fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16-19-year-olds is nearly 3 times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over. Risk is highest at ages 16-17.

 

Link: https://www.skipbarber.com/courses/driving-academy/