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EnCompass®
The AAA Companion |
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September | October 2004
Volume 78 Issue 5
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Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO
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President's Message
Teen driving safety is about all drivers
One of our missions at AAA is to help keep our roads safe. On issues of roadway safety, AAA members — as well as safety organizations such as the Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation — know they can count on us to help address roadway safety issues.
One such issue is teen driving safety. It seems as if every week brings news of another tragic accident (many times resulting in a fatality) that involves a newly licensed teenage driver who was driving with teenage passengers.
Some people may think this is an issue for only teenagers and their parents.
It's not — it's an issue that affects us all.
It all boils down to a relatively simple statement: The better prepared our teenage drivers are to drive safely, the safer our roads will be for all drivers. We believe that newly licensed teenagers have yet to acquire the experience and maturity necessary to respond safely to unexpected or distracting situations while driving.
How do we achieve the goal of better prepared teenage drivers?
Studies, statistics and the experiences of other states offer strong evidence that one specific way to help make our roadways safer is to restrict the number of teenage passengers in vehicles with newly licensed drivers for an initial period of time.
In our written survey (conducted in EnCompass and at www.aaa.
com) 96% of AAA members who responded voted in favor of placing restrictions on the number of teenage passengers in vehicles driven by a newly licensed teenage driver. The strongest response was to not allow any teenage passengers during the first six months of licensing.
AAA Colorado is committed to once again bringing this important issue before our state legislators and supporting legislation during the 2005 session that will limit teenage passengers in vehicles driven by newly licensed teenage drivers.
To have the greatest impact — and chance for success — we need your help once again. In the past, you have responded enthusiastically to our surveys and polls concerning this issue. We need your voice again so that our state legislators know how strongly AAA members believe in this issue.
So, please, make your voice count — complete and submit the Teen Driving Safety eCard.
We will keep you posted on all developments — through this magazine, through our website, www.aaa.com and a dedicated site, www.aaa.com/teens.
Thank you for your support. Together we can make a difference.
Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO
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