Saint Mary’s Parent Association December 2010 Mission: To Serve To Educate To have fun

Opening prayer- Fr. Mitch Doyen Minutes What every parent should know about teen age boys driving....and riding.... New Business Mrs. Goff Mr. Hacker Treasurer’s report Closing Reflection- Donna Divide into committees AND FOOD SMPA- December

Teen driving facts 5000 teens die each year and 400,000 are seriously injured Boys higher risk than girls (19/100,000 drivers vs 11/100,000) WHY? more likely to speed and tailgate low rate of seatbelt use (only 90%) 23% fatal teen age accidents involve alcohol and in those 74% do not use seat belts

Carrying passenger Risk of being in a crash increases when they transport passengers==3.6 times higher risk of fatality than if driving alone young males worse than young female after 9:00 PM risk is 3 times higher.

GOOD NEWS: GRADUATED Driver (GDL) Licensing A system to ease young beginners into driving environment All 50 states have some form of GDL IT DOES HELP Major area of research ( National Research Council and Institute of Medicine joined to study this)

Good news (GDL) GDL reduce crash involvement by average 31% using police reported crashes 16 year olds benefit more than 17 year old and the better (stricter) states show better reductions

GDL continued Licensing age states do better than 16.0 but this is still being studied Nighttime and passenger restrictions are effective if restricted, 21% lower fatal crashes if 9pm curfew 18% few fatal crashes

What else might come Connecticut requires a parent to take a two hour orientation course when teen gets learner permit Increase practice time (Missouri is currently 40 hours) 12 month permit time

Missouri law-Graduated licenses Permit- 15 Intermediate years Must have 40 hours of supervised driving hours of night time Must pass driving test First six months- no more than one person under age 19 who is not a relative one under age 19

Missouri law-Graduated licenses Age 16.5 through 18: No more than 3 under 19 in car who are not relatives Full license: must be 18 years old No alcohol related offenses No traffic related convictions for 12 months No texting

Missouri law years Prohibits drivers from typing, reading sending, or receiving text messages on a hand-held device while operating a motor vehicle. The fine for doing so is $200. The law only applies to drivers younger than 21. No laws prohibit speaking on a cell phone while driving.

Missouri law DWI and DUI legal blood alcohol concentration if over 21 is 0.08 if less than (i.e. any detected amount is considered DWI/DUI) First offense up to 500$, up to 6 months jail, and 30 days suspended license

WHAT to DO Count and then Double the hours required...practice practice..... Use a full year if possible Model good driving---following distance and speed teendriving.com operation stop.com

WHAT to DO Know the rules regarding passenger number Know the curfew times and explain reasons Cell phone....turn it off or give to passenger Loud music, loud passengers Seat belts decrease risk of death by 70% Will become as good as the “average driver” by as 21

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK OUR NEXT BIG EVENTS: Mother Son dance and Father Son breakfast