S4SD Teen Safe Driving Program Release

February 1, 2021                                                                                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Schools across Michigan participating

in teen safe driving program

Strive for a Safer Drive campaign in its 10^th year

 

Students at 23 Michigan high schools will have the opportunity to become better, safer drivers by participating in the Strive for a Safer Drive (S4SD) program. S4SD, a peer-led traffic safety campaign, aims to reduce the leading cause of death for teens – traffic crashes.

In 2019, teens and young adults age 15-20 accounted for 8 percent of all traffic deaths in Michigan, with 55.7 percent of those deaths being the driver. Inexperience and risk-taking behavior are the primary factors contributing to teen-driver fatalities.

In its 10^th year, S4SD is a public-private partnership between Ford Motor Company Fund’s Driving Skills for Life program and the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. The program encourages teens to talk to their peers and their communities about making safe driving choices.

The S4SD high schools for the 2020-21 school year are:      

 

SCHOOL	COUNTY
Anchor Bay High School	St. Clair
Bay-Arenac Career Center Law Enforcement	Bay & Arenac
Carlson High School	Wayne
Cousino High School	Macomb
Dakota High School	Macomb
Detroit Community Schools	Wayne
Dexter High School	Washtenaw
Dundee High School	Monroe
Fordson High School	Wayne
Freeland High School	Saginaw
Grand Blanc High School	Genesee
Grand Ledge High School	Eaton
Harper Creek High School	Calhoun
Lake Orion High School	Oakland
Memphis High School	Macomb & St. Clair
Ontonagon Area Schools	Ontonagon
Plymouth High School	Oakland
Potterville High School	Eaton
Port Huron Northern High School	St. Clair
Swan Valley High School	Saginaw
University High School Ferndale	Oakland
Vassar High School	Tuscola
West Shore ESD CTE	Mason

(MORE)

As part of the S4SD program, each school receives $1,000 for students to create a teen-led traffic safety campaign to educate their classmates and the community about various topics, including distracted driving, seat belt use, speeding, underage drinking/impaired driving, and winter driving.

This project does not need face-to-face instruction to be effective as it can be done successfully in a virtual environment.

Schools will submit a video or PowerPoint outlining their campaign. Those schools with the top-five winning campaigns will receive cash prizes ranging from $500-$1,500.

Since the 2011 creation of S4SD, 173 different Michigan high schools have participated in the program.

The OHSP has partnered with the Transportation Improvement Association (TIA) to coordinate activities of the S4SD program.

For more information about S4SD, please visit Michigan.gov/S4SD.

 

Contacts:         

Nolan Katerberg, Ford Motor Company Fund, 616-915-0032, nkaterbe@ford.com

Dennis Raymo, OHSP, 517-331-5249, raymod@michigan.gov