Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc. wants teen drivers to roll on the road safely. And this past summer, Kumho helped 1,600 teens learn to drive safely – and stay alive.
Teen auto safety is a matter of life and death, and Kumho’s Key to Safe Teen Driving program with partners KeyBank and The Mid-Ohio School helped save lives in 14 cities this past summer.
“Auto accidents are the leading cause of death among 15-21-year-old kids,” says Dan Davis, PR manager at KeyBank.
Davis says that parents need to get involved too, and many of the teens that attended the tour came with their parents. The tour traveled across Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and New York.
“You will never know how many lives you have saved because of this program. It has to be in the hundreds, even thousands over the years,” says Rick School whose teen attended the Appleton, Wis., class.
The record number of teen drivers received an intensive, one-day in-the-driver’s-seat course on exactly what it takes to be a safe and defensive driver. Offered for free, professional instructors from the Mid-Ohio School sat inside the car with the teen drivers as they maneuvered their way through the obstacle course filled with road cones and hazards such as wet pavement and faux animals that darted in front of them.
The tour kicked off on June 19 in Massillon, Ohio, and Modern Tire Dealer Senior Editor Bob Bissler was there. To see a Facebook photo album of the inaugural event, click here.) To see Bissler’s latest blog on the Safe Teen Driving Tour, click here.
The event was put on in conjunction with Kumho Tires and KeyBank in an effort to help the next generation of drivers stay focused on the road every time they get behind the wheel, and to give them practice in what to do in an emergency driving situation such as making a sudden lane change or braking on a wet or icy road.
“The Key to Safe Teen Driving Program is so important to us at Kumho Tires,” says Rick Brennan, vice president of marketing, Kumho Tire U.S.A. “Tires are the only four points of contact a driver has with the road and if we can make a difference in just one young driver’s life who has gone through the course and given him or her the tools to steer and brake correctly, to slow down and to just be more aware of everything going on around them when they drive, then the program is certainly worthwhile.”
The Key to Safe Teen Driving program will resume in the summer of 2013. For more information on when upcoming courses will be scheduled, visit www.KeytoSafeTeenDriving.com.
