Teen Accident Prevention Efforts in Georgia

As an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, I don’t hesitate to call out auto companies when they prioritize profits before consumer safety. It’s, therefore, also necessary to hand kudos where it’s due, when these very same companies take initiatives to reduce the risk of accidents and enhance motorist safety. Across the country, Ford Motor Company has been conducting driving clinics aimed at preventing accidents involving teenage drivers, and at many schools struggling with slashed budgets, these programs have been, quite literally, a lifesaver. With teenagers beig able to obtain drivers licenses at such an early age, even though study after study has confirmed that their brains are not fully developed until their mid-20’s, this is a great idea.

In Georgia, teenagers in several counties can benefit from the safety programs that Ford Motor Company conducts in collaboration with the Governor’s Highway Safety Association. The initiative includes a day of driving safety activities for high school students, including a three-course driver program. The program, called the Ford Driving Skills for Life program, has teenagers learning what it is really like to drive drunk or driver with distractions. This is done through the use of simulators and goggles.

The drunken-driving course, for instance, involves driving around orange cones in a “sober state”. The students are given Innocorp Fatal Vision Goggles that simulate driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08%. That is the legal limit for drunken driving in the state of Georgia and most of the rest of the country. Finally, the teen driver is given another pair of goggles that simulates a much higher level of blood-alcohol. The teens find that while they can drive carefully and concentrate in a sober state, it’s very hard to do so with a level of .08%, and almost impossible to do when their blood-alcohol levels are higher than .08%.

Besides, the program also equips teenage motorists to drive in adverse weather conditions, like on wet and slippery roads caused by rain, snow or ice. Similar simulator programs are also used to introduce teenage motorists to the risks of distracted driving, and so on.

Slashed high school budgets across Georgia have meant that many schools have cut down on driver’s ed classes. Unfortunately, too many schools in Georgia now find that they don’t have the resources to equip students for real-life driving skills. Programs like the one that Ford offers could help meet this need.

Attorney Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, automobile accident cases, personal injury cases, dental malpractice and medical malpractice lawsuits for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years in and around Atlanta, Georgia and its surrounding areas, including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have been seriously injured and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.