Getting Results
In early 2006, young drivers from 54 families in Minnesota and Wisconsin were enrolled in a Teen Safe Driver test project. After nine months in the program, teens averaged a 70 percent decrease in the frequency and severity of high-risk driving events.
The root causes for events were typically a failure to stay focused on the driving environment, failure to maintain safe following distances and excessive speed.
Parents reviewed driving mishaps with their teens and coached them to improve their driving habits. In addition, within the first six weeks of the program seatbelt use by drivers and passengers improved from 50 percent to nearly 100 percent.
Most notable in the test project was teen driver support for the program. Repeatedly, teens were surprised to see how their actions contributed to risky events. At the moment of the event they frequently attributed the problem to another driver’s actions, but the video objectively showed their contribution – being distracted, following too close or driving aggressively.
Additionally, under a research grant funded by American Family Insurance, the University of Iowa studied the effect of DriveCam video feedback on a group of 25 rural Iowa teens. After just over a month, the riskiest drivers in the study reduced their unsafe habits by 88 percent.
