At the NJSBA annual Workshop in October, NJM Safety Officer Pat McCormick and NJM Consumer Safety Coordinator Erica Rosso conducted three Teen Driver Safety learning labs. Attendees to any of the three labs were eligible to win one of two driving simulators – estimated at being worth $17,000 each – the company was offering in a drawing.
The winners, chosen at random, were the Egg Harbor Township School District and the Pascack Valley Regional High School District.
“All Egg Harbor Township School District sophomores will be privileged with having access to technology as part of the driver’s education program that they receive, due to the donation of a state-of-the-art driving simulator,” said Lisa C. Dagit, a member of the Egg Harbor Township Board of Education who also works as director of curriculum and instruction for the Hamilton Township School District in Atlantic County. “This helps allow the district to provide cutting-edge curriculum, instruction and programs to the students without any additional burden to the taxpayers.”
As part of NJM’s Teen Driver Safety Program, which has reached more than 48,000 students in its three years, the company, in partnership with the UGOTBRAINS Champion Schools Program, has awarded driving simulators to 65 high schools in New Jersey since 2011. The simulators present challenging situations – including impaired driving – in a controlled environment in which teens can learn and practice good-driving behaviors to prepare them better for real-life scenarios.
One of the topics NJM’s safety officers cover is distracted driving, a major issue affecting teen drivers. Interaction with passengers and cell phone use are the most-cited factors in teen auto accidents.
For more information visit NJM’s Teen Driver Safety Program online or call (609) 433-5859.