(Irving, TX) – Car crashes are the number 1 killer of teens in the United States. Every day, crashes end more teen lives than cancer, homicide and suicide combined. To help prevent needless injuries and losses of lives, as well as encourage teens to develop safe driving habits, AAA Texas along with the City of Irving and numerous traffic safety leaders will host a FREE Teen Driver Safety Fair from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 18 at Lively Pointe Youth Center at 909 N. O’Connor Road, Irving, TX 75061.
The AAA Texas Teen Driver Safety Fair is open to teens and parents throughout North Texas. The event will include guest speakers, interactive exhibits and resources to help inexperienced drivers, soon-to-be drivers, and families navigate through the difficult learning-to-drive process. The goal is to help teens understand the consequences of bad driving behaviors such as not wearing seatbelts, distracted driving, drowsy driving and DWI.
Some of the activities teens and parents can take part in at this year’s event include:
- Mock field sobriety tests with vision impairment goggles
- Rollover simulator that demonstrates what happens when seatbelts aren’t used
- Visualize blind spots from the driver’s seat inside a commercial truck
- Watch powerful videos on the effects of distracted driving and drunk driving
- Understand the dangers of texting while driving using distracted driving simulators
- Learn preventative car maintenance lessons from AAA Texas Automotive Services
· Tour the inside of an ambulance and learn how paramedics respond to vehicle crashes
- Speak with traffic safety advocates and law enforcement professionals about ways to prevent crashes
In addition, guest speakers at this year’s fair will include Irving Mayor Beth van Duyne, Dallas County Commissioner Dr. Elba Garcia, 2014 Miss Texas’ Outstanding Teen Kassidy Brown, and Kathy Bond, a distracted driving prevention advocate who lost her daughter from a distracted driving crash.
“The AAA Texas Teen Driver Safety Fair will be an educational and interactive experience for young drivers and soon-to-be drivers,” said AAA Texas Representative Doug Shupe. “Our goal is to equip young people and their parents with knowledge and take-home resources that will help teens think about their actions when behind the wheel, and lead them to make good driving decisions.”
As North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 54 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA Texas can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.
