Modesto CHP offers free Start Smart course for beginning drivers
The Modesto area office of the California Highway Patrol will offer a free Start Smart class Thursday night, March 23, for newly licensed or soon-to-be licensed drivers ages 15 to 19.
Despite safer vehicles, better roads, and countless driving programs, the CHP notes, the numbers of young drivers killed in traffic collisions have remained fairly constant for more than a decade. But the deaths and injuries can be greatly reduced by eliminating high-risk behaviors.
During Start Smart classes, officers discuss collision avoidance techniques, elements that cause crashes (speeding, DUI, distracted driving, unsafe passenger behavior), driver and parent responsibilities, the importance of safety restraints and what to do when in a crash.
Typically, testimonials are given by officers who have investigated fatal crashes involving teens. Parents of youth killed in collisions also may speak.
Most teen collisions involve some form of distraction, the CHP reports on its website. Cell phone use clearly poses a danger to all motorists, but passengers are particularly distracting to young drivers. A teen driver is twice as likely to be killed in a collision while carrying just one passenger, regardless of whether the passenger is a friend or a sibling, the CHP reports. Carrying two passengers increases the risk of collision by 158 percent, and three passengers increases risk by 207 percent.
Start Smart will be offered from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the CHP office at 4030 Kiernan Ave., Modesto. Participants must be accompanied by at least one parent.
To register, go to www.eventbrite.com.
Provisional Driver Licenses
Motor vehicle collisions are the No. 1 killer of teens, and their risk of collision is four times that of an experienced driver. The risk is highest when teens are in the first 12 to 24 months of being licensed.
California’s Graduated Driver’s License program consists of the following elements:
▪ Teens must be 15 years, 6 months old to get a permit.
▪ Teens must complete 50 hours of driving – 10 of which must be at night – over the next six months before obtaining an intermediate, or restricted, license at age 16.
▪ Teens are not permitted to drive unsupervised between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., when their risk of collision is highest.
▪ Teens with a restricted license cannot carry any passengers under age 20 unless accompanied by a licensed driver age 25 or older.
▪ A basic, or full, license can be obtained and restrictions lifted at age 17.
Source: www.chp.ca.gov
This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 8:46 AM with the headline "Modesto CHP offers free Start Smart course for beginning drivers."