As we put the finishing touches on our May E-Newsletter (can you believe April is nearly over?), we would like to direct your attention to our Defensive Driving blog, and more specifically our recent post about the “Drive it Home” event.
Various skits and speakers tied together what it means to parent a safe teen driver.
The following is our Monday blog post from our DDC blog. We believe defensive driving is an important part of a safe life, and would like to share what we have learned with you.
On Tuesday the 18th of April, nearly 100 people gathered at the Herberger Theater Center to watch Drive it Home: a comedy show designed to assist parents (and teenagers) in communicating driving desires and boundaries correctly.
The comedians, a traveling troop from The Second City (a comedy club which has trained many famous comedians, from John Belushi to Tina Fey to Stephen Colbert) acted out what is an all-too-common situation: two parents largely out of touch with the life of their daughter, who has just reaching driving age.
Popular, upbeat music blasts from the speakers as a woman who fills the role of “game show hostess” appears on stage, and welcomes the audience to the new episode of “Gettin’ in Gear.”
Through tasteful humor, the game show hostess steers the Pendelton family (Shelia, mother; Bruce, father; Maggie, 16 year old) through the traumas and turns of teenage licensing. Important points are covered for Maggie (and teenage audience members) like staying focused with hands on the wheel and phones turned off.
Through comedy, parents are also taught the four types of parenting: uninvolved, permissive, authoritative and authoritarian, and how to avoid the negative traits of each. Parents are also introduced to common issues, such as setting poor examples for child drivers.
After the skits, which are most likely included to help parents see what they do wrong and to keep teenage attendees engaged, John Ulczycki, the Group Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the National Safety Council spoke to parents candidly.
“Kids have been in Driver’s Ed since they were two, and you [parents] were the teachers,” said Ulczycki. He also stressed the importance of practice. Young drivers can never have too much practice, especially when it comes to night driving.
Ulczycki then introduced a mother who lost her son due to a preventable driving accident. This mother shared the importance of discussing decisions and their outcomes to children as young as twelve, thirteen and fourteen. Even if they are not of driving age, they have a say in who drives them and how.
“Every boy in that car, including [my son] had a part in his death that day, because nobody spoke up,” she recounted from the stage.
As the face of a brokenhearted mother continued to speak, audience members were reminded that it is ultimately up to them to train their children to be safe and legal drivers.
Phoenix was an early stop on the Drive it Home tour. If you would like to see if Drive it Home is coming to a city near you, please visit their site here.
If you wish to take one of our defensive driving classes, visit us here. If you need to get a ticket excused, visit us here.
