Nonprofit Driving School Offers Classes for Teenagers and Parents

Students get a feel for the effects of understeer on the skidpad.
Students get a feel for the effects of under-steer on the skidpad.

Teen Driving Solutions School, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Raleigh, NC, will be holding classes  at Virginia International Raceway to educate students with their learners permit or license to be safer, smarter, more responsible drivers.

The two-day classes also engage parents, providing helpful tools to better coach their teenagers and enforce positive driving habits.

Teen Driving Solutions School focuses on one primary goal: lowering the number of teenage deaths due to driving crashes. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, teenage driving related car crashes are the primary cause of death for this age group.

These teenage crashes also cause more than 400,000 teen injuries every year. As part of its mission throughout Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, the nonprofit offers the two-day classes, safe driving advocacy, and volunteer time for speaking engagements and clinics focused on alerting teenagers to the perils of texting or multitasking while driving.

TDSS’s two-day course, “Teen New Drivers Advanced Training,” provides teens with a mix of both hands-on behind-the-wheel training to improve vehicle control in a controlled setting, and a class curriculum focused on mental skills. In the classroom, students learn to take personal responsibility every time they drive, how to improve decision-making on the road, the physics of safely controlling a vehicle in real life situations and mental habits that avoid distractions.

“Teen driving-related car crashes are the number one cause of death among teenagers,” said Daniel Wagner, founder and president of TDSS. “Teen Driving Solutions School wants to change this statistic. Our classes are specially designed to provide the physical behind-the-wheel training and the mental skills so your child arrives alive, every time.”

The TDSS Teen New Drivers Advanced Training course is unlike standard driver education and other driver assistance programs. Unlike other classes, TDSS does not just provide instruction on how to operate a vehicle and pass a driving test. Instead, it combines these skills with further physical and mental training for teenagers to apply in real-world situations in order to prevent crashes.

While teenage drivers are in the classroom, parents are led by a master licensed relationship and communication expert, Dr. Dar Hawks, who teaches key skills on how to best help new teenage drivers. Parents then also get behind-the-wheel with the same instructor teaching their teen. As a child’s driving safety and skills are entirely in the parents’ hands, this program engages adults to learn simple, effective ways to teach their teen and lead by example.

All TDSS classes and clinics are led by instructors with decades of experience helping people become safer drivers. The Teen New Drivers Advanced Training course is specifically designed for teens of at least 15 years of age who currently have a learner’s permit (or driver license) and a minimum of 20 hours supervised behind-the-wheel experience. Students and parents may use their own car or one of the TDSS’s training vehicles.

The three upcoming classes, all hosted at VIRginia International Raceway in southern Virginia, are scheduled for July 27-28, Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, and Oct. 12-13 and registration is open at www.teendrivingsolutions.com. The courses are limited to 24 students. To learn more or to register for a class, visit: http://teendrivingsolutions.com.

 

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