IN THE HOT SEAT: Teen driving school, Collision Guard style
TOOELE – The secret to making teens safer drivers: A little burnt rubber and a lot of adrenaline.
That’s the philosophy of Collision Guard, the nation’s newest safe-driving campaign, which put nearly a dozen teenagers behind the wheel of a Miller Motorsports Park skid car in April to teach them the basics of emergency driving.
“There’s nothing like smoking tires to get teens interested in being safer drivers,” Collision Guard President Brian Nichols said. “We want to change the way people think about driving. There’s no better place to start than with teenagers, who are four times more likely to be in a crash than adults.”
So a handful of Utah teens – with hometowns stretching from Payson to Layton – spent their weekend pounding brake pedals, squealing around corners, weaving through cones and recovering from asphalt skids as part of a drivers education course that was anything but boring.
“I want to hear the tires screech!” driving instructor Tyler Dahl called out.
Payson resident Kylee Chapa did just that.
At speeds reaching 55 miles per hour, the 17-year-old slammed the brakes of her white Ford Focus. Her seatbelt locked. Her hair shot toward the windshield. And her car lurched to a stop.
“It was way cool,” Chapa said. “This is so much better [than driver’s ed].”
The teen driving clinic was the debut event of the national safe-driving campaign Collision Guard, which started in Utah County late last year. It now has hundreds of member and close to 7,000 Facebook fans who are combining efforts to make America’s roads safer.
It’s a nontraditional campaign that combines entertainment (did you know 29 percent of drivers admit to kissing while driving), automotive discounts (think $100 off a windshield or a free oil change with a safety inspection) and attention-grabbing events such as the teen driving clinic to focus on auto safety.
So on the blacktop of Miller Motorsports Park, Collision Guard exposed 11 Utah teens to a new style of safe driving. They practiced emergency lane changes, attempted high-speed turns while braking and learned the fundamentals of driving safe on ice in a Miller Motorsports Park skid car.
“It really helps,” said Madison Lyons, a 15-year-old from Sandy, after finishing the hard-braking course. “Your parents don’t let you do half the things you do here.”
“Without getting screamed at,” added her 16-year-old brother, Jeremy Adamson, with a smile.
The event was conducted in partnership with Miller Motorsports Park and the Miller Performance Schools, which offer regular drivers education clinics.
“It is completely different from what you learn in driver’s ed class,” remarked Daniel Bryson, a 17-year-old from Layton, whose speed through the slalom course earned him kudos from instructors. “You might do a figure-eight and some parallel parking, but that’s about it. Here, you are hitting high speeds of 50 to 60, doing serpentine and stuff like that. It’s a great experience.”
Collision Guard hopes it will make a difference in automotive safety, particularly when car accidents now are the leading cause of death among teens.
“Too many people are dying on America’s roads,” Nichols said. “Collision Guard wants to change that. Together, we can save lives.”
MORE TO COME:
Collision Guard isn’t done yet! Watch for more driving clinics in the months to come. A photo gallery of Collision Guard’s latest clinic is available by clicking here:
ABOUT COLLISION GUARD
Collision Guard is a fast-growing safe-driving campaign based in Utah County that combines national advocacy with entertainment and automotive discounts. Unlike other campaigns that simply spread information, Collision Guard offers people an incentive to be better drivers. Collision Guard was started last year in Orem by a group of body shop owners who decided they had seen enough crashes and wanted to make a difference. It now has hundreds of members, mostly in Utah, and a social media following of nearly 7,000 people.
ABOUT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK
Miller Motorsports Park is a state-of-the-art road racing facility for automobiles, motorcycles and karts located just 35 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah. It is considered the finest facility of its type in North America. Opened in 2006, Miller Motorsports Park hosts many of the world’s most significant racing series.