Interactive classroom course aims to teach teens responsibility, accountability
South Fallsburg, N.Y. (October 22, 2019) – Rolling V Bus Corp is proud to continue the tradition of locally promoting and executing the nationally recognized teen driver safety course Alive at 25 during the 2019-2020 school year. The program is aimed at curbing the alarming rate of teen vehicular fatalities in New York State and the country at large.
Rolling V is offering the classes to school districts in which it provides transportation. The bus company is also covering the $40 course fee for students in school districts that serve as venues for the Alive at 25 courses. At this date, those districts include Liberty, Livingston Manor and Roscoe.
“Teen drivers tend to severely underestimate the dangers of the road,” said Rolling V President Phil Vallone. “The courses we sponsor are critical to public safety, and could help save the lives of those that represent the future – our children.”
While research shows that the safest way for kids to get back and forth to school is on a school bus, research shows that more and more teens are driving their own cars upon receiving their licenses. This new found independence creates an added hazard on our roads.
Alive at 25, which was created by and is offered through the National Safety Council, utilizes interactive classroom techniques to teach young drivers about hazards they may encounter and how to remain safe on the road. It includes instructional videos and class discussion.
Rolling V initiated the use of the Alive at 25 program in 2007, following a double-fatal car crash involving two Livingston Manor teenagers. Both were classmates of Vallone’s sons.
The need for increased education for young drivers is critical given the dire statistics on motor vehicle traffic fatalities among young people.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:
- •2,734 teenagers (ages 13-19) died in the US from vehicular crash injuries in 2017, the leading cause of death in this age group.
- •The fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16-17-year-olds is about 3 times the rate for drivers 20 and older.
Characteristics of teens’ fatal crashes include:
- •Driver error. Compared with adults’ fatal crashes, those of teens more often involve driver error.
- •Speeding. Excessive speed is a factor in just over a quarter of teens’ fatal crashes.
- •Single-vehicle crashes. Many fatal crashes involve only the teen’s vehicle. Typically, these are high-speed crashes in which the teenage driver loses control.
- •Passengers. Just over half of teen passenger deaths occur in crashes with teen drivers.
- •Night driving. Per mile driven, the fatal crash rate of 16-19-year-olds is about 4 times as high at night as it is during the day.
“Our primary goal at Rolling V has always been safety – get the kids to school safe, home safe, and do it again the next day,” Vallone added. “With Alive at 25, we can take our support of safety for young people beyond our vehicles and drivers.”
About Rolling V Bus Corp.:
Rolling V Bus Corp. provides full-service school bus, charter bus and car services throughout the Catskills and New York City. Rolling V is a proud member of the New York School Bus Contractors Association and the American School Bus Council. The company is family-owned and operated by the Vallone and DeSabato families. The Vallone Family has been in the passenger transportation business for more than 50 years.
