Teen driving course - Free!

From the OC Register:

It’s a great day when you watch your teen drive off, able to transport themselves to school, work or practice. It’s also one of the scariest.

There’s no way to completely take away the scary part. But programs to improve teen driving are one way to shore up the teen’s budding driving skills and perhaps lessen some of the risks and problems to which young drivers are prone.

Learning how to control the car in a wet skid.

When I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my daughter getting a new car, I heard from a couple of readers suggesting such a program. One of those was the B.R.A.K.E.S. Teen Pro-Active Driving School, which still has openings for its free courses at the Fairplex in Pomona on March 12-13. Other sessions will be held June 11-12 and Dec. 10-11.

Skills taught include wet skid pad, panic stop, accident avoidance, distraction and slalom. If that last one sounds like lots of fun to your teen, perhaps they’d be a good candidate.

Register on the B.R.A.K.E.S. website. Teens should be 15-19 and have their license or learner’s permit and at least 30 hours of driving experience. Teachers are professional driving instructors, according to B.R.A.K.E.S. The nonprofit was founded by NHRA Top Fuel drag racer Doug Herbert in memory of his two sons, who were killed in a car accident.

On the subject of teen driving, OCMoms.com columnist Elizabeth Esther wrote earlier this month about a device developed by a Coto de Caza man that can be installed on a teen’s car to provide verbal coaching, speeding warnings, GPS tracking and prevent texting while driving.

Wendy Fawthrop is a senior copy editor on the Register’s print edition. Her son is a freshman majoring in business management at Arizona State University, and her daughter is a junior at Villa Park High School and a dance student at Anaheim Ballet.

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