President's Message

Licensed to Learn - A License to Live

Tony DeNovellis, President and CEO

With prom time and summer activities just around the corner, our attention is turned to teen driving-an issue that affects the safety of all motorists.

The statistics are alarming: Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, accounting for nearly one-third of all deaths in this age group. In 1999, teen drivers represented seven percent of all drivers, but were involved in 15 percent of all fatal vehicle crashes and 18 percent (1,964,000) of total crashes. In Colorado, drivers ages 15-20 make up only six percent of the driving population, but over 15 percent of the fatalities. In fact, teen drivers are the cause of over 83 percent of teen passenger deaths.

In 1997, AAA launched Licensed to Learn: A Safety Program for New Drivers. The first and only comprehensive approach to improving teen driver safety in this country, Licensed to Learn focuses simultaneously on:

Raising public awareness of the teen driver problem

Focusing attention on the need to improve driver education

Improving state licensing laws (graduated drivers licensing) to give teens more time to develop safe driving skills

Foremost in the Licensed to Learn campaign is the push to pass graduated driver's licensing (GDL) laws in all 50 states. AAA Colorado worked closely with coalition partners to assist Representative Marcy Morrison (R) of Manitou Springs. It took two years before Governor Owens signed the GDL bill into law in June 1999.

To give our members a better idea of what GDL is all about, and what it is like for parents and teens to follow these new guidelines, we've invited member Terry Jones and his son, Scott, to be special guest commentators in this issue. Terry and Scott each give their perspective of living the GDL experience. Parental involvement is one of the key elements in the program.

The success of this campaign is a testament to AAA's public service mission-a cornerstone of our organization for almost 100 years. The road to improved teen driving is long, but AAA is leading the way by changing the way teens learn to drive and, in the process, improving the safety of our roads.

Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO

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