When safe driving literally pays off

As the Good Neigh Bear danced, State Farm Insurance agent Gary Albert made the dangerous move of reaching into the car of a teen driver.

It was OK. He was giving out money.

“Free money’s cool,” said the teen, smiling while driving away with a paper swag bag filled with trinkets and a legal tender portrait of George Washington.

Mr. Albert and State Farm agents across the county went into high schools this week to convince teen drivers to buckle up, slow down, pay attention and chill out. It’s a message that they try to impart to older drivers all year, as well, and especially to parents.

“We call it ‘Strapped for Cash’ and we’re giving out a dollar and some other things to any student who has a seatbelt buckled,” Mr. Albert said as Charlottesville High School students flooded out of the building and into the parking lot.

“We’ve been in the schools all week as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week and we’ve made a lot of presentations and this is sort of the capstone of that,” he said.

A little parental guidance

According to State Farm-sponsored research, parents who keep an eye on their young drivers help keep them out of trouble.

Teens, the research showed, are 50 percent less likely to crash and less likely to drink and drive, use a cell phone, or speed if parents helicopter over their driving with clear rules and pay attention to where kids are going and with whom.

Kids who have their own vehicle are twice as likely to wreck as those who share a car, the study also showed.

As Col. W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent, told media folks: “When it comes to expectations and responsibilities associated with safe driving, clear communication between parents and their children has always played an important role in guiding new, young drivers.”

A beltless student drove by, eliciting reproof from State Farm personnel, and then buckled up. The Good Neigh Bear danced as the repentant driver was passed a bag through the window.

Dance, Neigh Bear, dance

Mr. Albert has been visiting high schools for four years, working with parents, educators and students to foster safe driving.

“Parents make a difference. When we get them involved, crash rates drop,” Mr. Albert said. “When we started in area schools, the crash rate was about 22 [percent] to 25 percent, which is greater than the [state] average. In the time we’ve been in the schools, it’s dropped to the mid-single digits for percentages.”

Not all of the parents got the message. Of the first 10 cars that came out of the parking lot driven by parents, three of the adults were not wearing their belts. None of them belted up despite admonition from the Good Neigh Bear.

“That’s why we’re here. The idea is to get the information out any way possible,” Mr. Albert said. “The more we get involved and the more parents get involved, the more lives we can save.”