President's Message Tony DeNovellis President and CEO You can make a difference in teen driving safety In the May/June issue of EnCompass, I wrote about AAA making a stand for teen driver safety by helping to initiate and support legislative efforts in that area. Additionally, in the March/April issue of EnCompass, we conducted a poll asking AAA members if they favored enacting laws to limit the number of teenage passengers in cars driven by newly licensed teenage drivers. As we reported in the Commentary section of our May/June issue, 98% of respondents voted in favor of teenage passenger restrictions for teenage drivers. Many of you also wrote me letters in support of AAA doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our youngest drivers. C. Zieve wrote: "Having a son nearing driving age, I fully support the law. What can be done to push it through? Petitions? Letters to any particular government official?" Diane Mayer has found a good way of handling the situation which might work for others: "We created a contract for our teen driver that included a provision to carry no more than one passenger for the first month of driving." Nikki Smith's energies are focused on an ancillary subject by "working for BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer education network to develop a resource for high school student peer groups to educate their peers on the dangers of drunk driving." Heather Wolley, a high school student, asked me excellent questions so she could use the answers in a speech she was giving about restrictions on teen driving. Catherine Roy wrote to say: "As a long-time AAA member, I'm glad you supported restrictions on the number of passengers for teen drivers, even if it didn't pass." I thank all AAA members who took the time to write or cast their vote in our informal poll. I will continue to draw on AAA Colorado's reputation to meet with government officials, law enforcement agencies, safety groups, parents and teens to build awareness of and support for this issue. If you would like to help in these efforts, please turn to our Commentary section. We are asking all our members to fill out a poll that will define what you want to see when it comes to the specifics of teen passenger restrictions. We will then pass on that feedback to government leaders, the media and your state representatives and report back on the progress that is made as we approach the next legislative session. You can help AAA Colorado make a difference in teen driving safety. Tony DeNovellis President and CEO Return to Table of Contents

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