Some Wisconsin teens are helping their peers become safer behind the wheel. At $3.50 per gallon of gas, your average teen may already be driving less, but Deena Liska with the Health Education Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin says, when they do get behind the wheel, there are a couple factors working against them. "The first is just their lack of experience with driving," says Liska, adding that there are also behavioral and skill aspects to driving that teenagers need help developing.
The Driving Skills for Life program addresses the critical driving skills that can help teens avoid a crash — with students implementing safe driving programs at their high schools. "They seem to hear each other better, and accept the messages better, than from an expert," says Liska. There are 12 Wisconsin high schools (Green Bay Bay Port, DC Everest, Deerfield, Germantown, Iola-Scandinavia, Necedah, Platteville, Prescott, Milwaukee Rufus King, Seymour and Slinger) participating in the program, funded through grants from Ford Motor Company , the Wisconsin DOT and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
