President's Message


Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO

Education and teen drivers

What are teens like as drivers? What distracts them? And what do they think of cell phone use—both talking and texting—while driving?

It's no secret that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, claiming more than 6,000 15- to 20-year-olds nationwide each year.

The question is: How to motivate teens to become safer drivers? AAA believes a starting point toward that goal is to gather information directly from teens about their perceptions of driving behavior and how they actually drive. That information can then help AAA Colorado, parents, teachers and other teen advocates to fashion better targeted, effective educational messages about driving safety.

Earlier this year, the AAA Association conducted a nationwide survey of 1,000 16- and 17-year-old teen drivers. Sixty-one percent reported engaging in some form of risky and/or unsafe behavior while driving. Of that 61%, 51% admitted to talking on a cell phone while driving and 46% said they sent or read text messages while driving. (For complete details on this survey, go to www.aaa.com/teens.)

What about Colorado? Are teens in Colorado as prone to text messaging or engaging in other distracted driving habits as they appear to be nationally?

AAA Colorado decided to find out by creating and sponsoring an online anonymous survey with its traffic safety partners—the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Department of Transportation and the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

While the survey officially ended before this issue was printed, the results were not yet fully tabulated and analyzed. A press conference to announce the results is planned for November. Details of this Colorado teen driver survey—and how it will impact AAA Colorado's educational messages—will be in the January/February 2008 EnCompass and online at www.aaa.com/teens.

AAA Colorado believes that greater efforts must be made to educate both teens and parents on this critical issue of teen distracted driving—most notably cell phone use. This survey will help AAA Colorado and its traffic safety partners formulate educational messages that will have the greatest impact.

Tony DeNovellis
President and CEO