From the Director

In the United States, more than 3,900 teens in 2009 lost their lives in traffic crashes. The major reason teens are killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes are: lack of safety belt use, speed, distraction, impaired driving or lack of experience. In 2007, there were 155 teen fatalities due to traffic crashes in Illinois. During 2008, in Illinois, there were 93 teen fatalities and in 2009, 79 teen fatalities, which represents an almost 50 percent decrease in fatalities since 2007.

 

Illinois has taken this problem under attack by developing the Operation Teen Safe Driving (OTSD) program as well as instituting one of the toughest Graduated Drivers License Programs (GDL) in the country. Programs like the GDL and the OTSD do make a difference in saving teen lives but this is not enough.

 

Prom is a big event in teens' lives and too many teens are killed or seriously injured over prom weekend. The Division of Traffic Safety (DTS) has created a new PROM program to support high schools in their efforts to encourage teens to drive safely.

 

At a press conference in 2008, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White asked a group of teenagers if they knew what prom stood for, but no one had a good answer. Secretary White explained it stood for “Please Return On Monday” and thus the DTS PROM program was born!

 

DTS has a limited number of PROM packages available that Illinois High Schools can request to use for a pre-prom reminder to students that they should have fun at prom, but please return on Monday. Included in the package will be t-shirts for teachers to wear on the last school day before prom, lanyards, pens, bracelets and key chains with the PROM message on them for handout to students as well as fact sheets with statistics about teen driving issues.

 

To participate, schools simply download an application form (TS 514) from the IDOT website at the PROM listing under the Operation Teen Safe Driving header or at http://www.dot.il.gov/trafficsafety/tsforms.html and mail it to the address listed on the form. Once you receive your package, decide how you want to use the enclosed materials and, after the prom is over, send back a simple report on what you did and how you think it may have helped teens stay safe.

 

Visit the Operation Teen Safe Driving Website to learn more about that program at www.TEENSAFEDRIVINGILLINOIS.org.
Come join us and make a difference in teen safety!

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Michael R. Stout
Director