The Woodland office of the California Highway Patrol will offer a Smart Start class for teen drivers and their parents or guardians, focusing on comprehensive traffic safety education.
The class will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Woodland Police Department, 1000 Lincoln Ave. in Woodland. To register or for more information, call 530-662-4685. Space is limited.
According to the CHP, a teenager is killed in a traffic collision every four hours nationwide. That equates to more than 1,870 teenagers killed each year. Another 184,000 teenagers are injured in traffic collisions. These deaths and injuries can be substantially reduced or prevented by eliminating high-risk driving behaviors through education, the CHP said.
The Start Smart curriculum includes information on collision statistics, teen driver and passenger behaviors, graduated driver license laws, cultural changes in today’s society and the need for strong parental involvement in a teenager’s driving experience.
Start Smart targets new and future licensed teenage drivers between the age of 15 and 19 and their parents or guardians. The class will cover collision avoidance techniques, driver responsibility, collision trends, distracted driving laws, alcohol-related driving laws and the provisional license process.
The program also offers an opportunity for new drivers and parents or guardians to ask CHP and Woodland police officers clarifying questions. The class incorporates videos and classroom discussion.
Funding for Start Smart programs is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.