Driving Institute of America presents The Teen Driver's Bible: The Parents' Guide for Supporting Their Teen's Critical First Phase of Driving

United States Fatalities

Improved safety in vehicles (airbags, ABS) has led to higher injuries versus deaths.

A total of 768,828 fatalities between 2000 and 2018

And over 39.4 million injuries! (From National Safety Council’s Accident Facts)

The DIA® Mission

The DIA® Mission is to make you a DIA-Certified Teen Driver vs. a good driver, by

Giving you a New Knowledge of accident-possibility situations caused by you or by others.

Giving you a New Knowledge for Proactive prevention of all possible accidents, to become a Proactive vs. Reactive driver. Reactive is too late!

Giving you a New Knowledge that eliminates any bad driving habits and develops new driving skills to execute the Focus Concepts on every driving mission.

The Two Major Root Causes of Accidents

ROOT CAUSE #1

The driver’s education curriculum taught in high school was too general, not simple, or fundamentals-based driven. Different accident situations and how they could be prevented were not a focus, therefore not part of the curriculum. To succeed in sports, you must learn the fundamentals of each sport; the same is true with driving. Even those of us who have been driving over thirty, forty, fifty years received this same type of training. There have been some improvements, but I feel the terrible fatality and injury statistics reflect we need a much better preventative curriculum.

ROOT CAUSE #2

The second root cause is behavioral: just plain bad driving habits! Here is an example of one of the most important disciplines that is a major factor in many accidents. A person who is consistently departing late immediately becomes like a ticking time bomb! This person becomes a very aggressive driver! An aggressive driver becomes a less defensive driver, and the accident possibilities increase dramatically! This driver is usually the primary person causing an accident.

If this sounds like you, we will start now to correct this habit when you drive by following DIA’s 1520 Rule. This simply means being disciplined by departing in sufficient lime so that you arrive at your destination 15–20 minutes ahead of time. Make this a disciplined habit, and you will see how less stressful, and safer, your driving mission will become. You allow extra time for others pulling out; it eliminates you tailgating, running red lights, making hasty pullouts, speeding, unplanned abrupt lane changes, or losing control! This simple concept will improve your driving behavior immensely.

When we first start driving, there are two very critical phases that we enter as drivers. These are the first ten years of driving; the first phase is from 16 to 20 years. This most critical phase requires the utmost focus and discipline as a new driver on the road. The accident statistics may get worse before they improve because of our large aging society. The 74 million baby boomers are getting older, and many still driving on the roads. With many more elderly drivers on the road, the possibilities of these drivers crossing the centerline, pulling out at intersections carelessly, or losing control will become more prevalent.

When reading your local paper or local news, look how many times you see, or hear the driver crossed the centerline! We also now have a generation exceeding the baby boomer generation, with the millennial generation totaling seventy-six million people! These two segments of society are high in numbers regarding accidents! As we have heard before, it takes twenty-one days to make a habit a consistent habit. We will give you the knowledge and behavioral habits that you need to change. Remember, this is a fundamental focus-concept driver training curriculum.

Two Root Causes for Accident Statistics

Drivers’ Education—Too general, not fundamentally focus-concept based

Driver Behavior—Bad habits

Two Major Driver Behavior Root Causes

Distractions—looking away from the road, on cell phone, texting, or looking at passengers while the wheels are rolling!

Speeding

It’s Not Preventable—Oh Yes, It Is!

During my tenure in the transportation industry, when discussing accidents with friends or relatives, it was extremely difficult for them to accept responsibility that the accident was preventable.

Although I agree there are some accidents (approximately 10–20 percent) that are completely non-preventable, these are rare. I could look where the vehicle was damaged and if it was in the front of the vehicle, the likelihood of it being preventable was higher.

You will learn the focus concept to prevent you from getting rear-ended by another vehicle when you are stopped in traffic. Most people would say this type of accident cannot be prevented, but it surely can be prevented. We will show you how you can prevent being rear-ended in this training.

Now, let us look at the DIA focus concept when approaching an intersection with a green light. Your new DIA focus concept is A green light will not mean go only. Instead, it will mean Go—proceeding with caution!"

When you approach a green light with the perception of go, you will most likely drive assuming the cross traffic is going to stop. Therefore, you are just cruising along happy-go-lucky, then crash!

When you approach the green light with the Go—proceeding with caution mindset, you will approach the intersection differently. Once you see the cross traffic approaching, you will proceed at the proper speed to check and ensure the other vehicle is indeed slowing down. Only then can you proceed safely through the intersection. If you see the vehicle not slowing down, you make the decision to slow down prior to entering the intersection and prevent a serious accident. Available visibility also determines how you approach each individual intersection.

This also applies to you when you are the first vehicle stopped at a red light and the light changes to green; you want to hesitate, clear all sides properly, and make sure the cross-traffic stops! Go—proceeding with caution! I never want to be the vehicle being hit by someone who runs a red light! Many of these red-light runners have been drivers under the influence also.

The National Safety Council’s statistics rated intersection accidents as being the cause of 43 percent of all fatalities in vehicle accidents, although this is changing drastically because of the lost-control type of accidents climbing at a fast rate. The major causes of lost-control type of accidents soaring are various distractions and speeding. More drivers are using cell phones, texting, using laptops, eating, falling articles, changing radio/CD/MP3 players, pets in vehicle, checking GPS, reading books, and dozing off all while the wheels are rolling!

Teen Driver’s Critical First Phase Facts

FACT: Crash rate for seventeen- to nineteen-year-olds per mile driven is four times a higher risk.

FACT: Crash rate for sixteen-year-olds per mile driven is eight times a higher risk!

FACT: From 2000 to 2017, over 73,545 teens ages sixteen to nineteen died in the US from auto crashes.

FACT: Two out of every three (66 percent) fatalities were males, 34 percent were females.

FACT: In these accidents, the teen driver was more likely at fault.

FACT: Teenagers do most driving at night.

FACT: 20 percent of fatalities from 9:00 p.m. to midnight

FACT: 23 percent of fatalities from midnight to 6:00 a.m.

FACT: Teens are involved in more single-vehicle accidents (lost control) than other drivers.

FACT: Teens are inexperienced, lack proper detection skills, are easily distracted, and unable to maintain proper speed on a consistent basis.

FACT: The best practices are to limit and minimize the teen’s driving exposure. This is especially true for sixteen-year-olds. If you have a teen who is hyper and hasty, the odds are they will tend to speed or become easily distracted. A true recipe for disaster is a sixteen-year-old running late to school, or anywhere!

FACT: 15 percent of sixteen- to seventeen-year-old males had BAC 0.08 or higher.

FACT: 10 percent of sixteen- to seventeen-year-old females had BAC 0.08 or higher—must eliminate this!

As a parent, or guardian, you must invest sufficient time in training your teen. DIA’s curriculum is intended as an added support to the state driver’s education training focused on accident prevention.

Teen Accident Statistics Review

From 2000 to 2017, 73,545 teen fatalities.

Crash rate for seventeen- to nineteen-year-olds is four times higher, versus for sixteen-year-olds, which is eight times higher!

Teens are involved in more single-vehicle accidents (Root causes: Distractions and Speeding).

DIA’s suggested driving plan is a supplemental addition to the state program and is designed to help you support your