CEO's Message

In a few short weeks, the summer travel season will be under way. For many Arizona families, a summer trip to cooler climes, whether by car or by air, is a treasured reprieve from the heat.

Of course, summer travel also means record numbers of cars on the road, and, with schools out, more young drivers behind the wheel. Getting a drivers license can open up new opportunities for driving to school, to a part-time job or taking a turn on the family vacation. Unfortunately, statistics show that teenager drivers are often our most vulnerable.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) teen drivers represent less than 7 percent of the driving population, but account for more than 13 percent of drivers involved in deadly crashes. In fact, 16-year-old drivers are more than twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes than older drivers. Those statistics are a stark reminder that we must better prepare our teen drivers — and we will.

On July 1, Arizona’s Teenage Drivers Safety Act becomes law. This legislation, spearheaded by AAA Arizona and supported by more than 20 other organizations, creates an intermediate drivers license law for new teen drivers. We expect this law to save lives, as it has in the other 45 states that have adopted such legislation. We thank Senator Barbara Leff, Senator Ron Gould and Representative John McComish for their leadership in championing the bill.

Key features of the Teenage Drivers Safety Act include an increase in the hours of supervised training necessary to obtain a license, nighttime driving restrictions for the first six months, and limits on the number of non-family, teenage passengers in the vehicle to no more than one passenger for the first six months that a 16- or 17-year-old holds a class G license. There is, however, more we can do to help our newest and least-experienced drivers.

One program of which we are particularly proud is the Dare to Prepare workshop. These 90-minute presentations provide critical information teen drivers need to know before they take the wheel. As of this publication’s deadline, more than 300 families have attended Dare to Prepare sessions, with 94 percent of parents stating they would recommend the program to others, and 79 percent of teens surveyed stating that as a result of the workshop, they now feel more comfortable discussing driving concerns with their parents.

In addition, we’ve identified two top-quality novice driver training schools that we recommend for driver training. Driving MBA and Desert Driving School meet AAA’s rigorous driver training standards and we are proud to recommend them to our members.

As you can see, AAA Arizona offers tremendous resources related to young-driver safety. If you have a teen that is approaching driving age, I invite you to visit teensatthewheel.com, to learn more about the Teen Driver Safety Act and our other driving safety programs. 

Wishing you and your family a safe and pleasurable summer.
Happy travels.