TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In less time
than a trip to the movies, a Mississippi teen could learn life-saving
driving skills. Toyota is bringing its free TeenDrive365 teen
driver experience to Pearl,
Mississippi on Sept. 27 and 28
at Bass Pro Shops (100 Bass Pro Drive). It is the first time Toyota
has brought the program to Mississippi.
Lending a local hand, WJTV's Caring for Mississippi has teamed up with Toyota to
promote safe driving behaviors in the Jackson area. At the innovative,
two-and-a-half-hour events, teens and their parents will get in
cars and the classroom to learn about defensive driving skills,
crash avoidance techniques and the dangers of distracted
driving.
The program is open to new drivers with a valid driver's
license. Registration is required and open now at
events.teendrive365.com.
New research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals
that driver education is associated with a lower incidence of both
crashes and convictions – reducing crashes by 4.3 percent and
convictions by nearly 40 percent.
"Whether or not a teen has taken formal driver's education, the
TeenDrive365 program can help Mississippi families improve their defensive
driving skills," said Michael Rouse,
Toyota's vice president of diversity, philanthropy and community
affairs. "Through Toyota's program, teens get more behind-the-wheel
driving experience, and the parents get new tools for coaching and
supporting their new drivers."
Mississippi law restricts the
time of day on the road and texting of its newest drivers, and
TeenDrive365 supplements those rules to look at distractions and
safe driving techniques. According to the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety, the fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16-19
year-olds is nearly three times the rate for drivers ages 20 and
over.
Recognizing that parents play a crucial role in developing
habits of their teens behind the wheel, Toyota's program uniquely
requires a parent or guardian to actively participate in the event
with the teen. Parents and teens will make mutual driving
agreements and learn communication tips to continue at-home
learning.
For more than a decade Toyota has provided teen driver safety
resources to help drivers conquer the road
safely. TeenDrive365.com offers free online teen safety
resources to parents, teens, educators and schools.
ABOUT TOYOTA
Toyota, the world's top automaker and creator of the Prius, is
committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our
Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we've
built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14
manufacturing plants and directly employ more than 40,000
people. Our 1,800 North American dealerships sold more than
2.5 million cars and trucks in 2013 – and about 80 percent of all
Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road
today.
Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the
country, with a focus on education, safety and the
environment. As part of this commitment, we share the
company's extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and
trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand
their ability to do good. To date, Toyota has contributed more than
$700 million to nonprofits in the
U.S. For more information about Toyota, visit
www.toyota.com/usa.
Media Contact:
Rebecca Lee
Golin for Toyota
rlee@golin.com
213-438-8827
SOURCE Toyota