Toyota Brings Free, Safe Driving Program To Mississippi Teens And Parents

TORRANCE, Calif., September 16, 2014 /3BL Media/ -- In less time than a trip to the movies, a Mississippi teen could learn life-saving driving skills. Toyota is bringing its free TeenDrive365 teen driver experience to Pearl, Mississippi on Sept. 27 and 28 at Bass Pro Shops (100 Bass Pro Drive). It is the first time Toyota has brought the program to Mississippi.

Lending a local hand, WJTV's Caring for Mississippi has teamed up with Toyota to promote safe driving behaviors in the Jackson area. At the innovative, two-and-a-half-hour events, teens and their parents will get in cars and the classroom to learn about defensive driving skills, crash avoidance techniques and the dangers of distracted driving.

The program is open to new drivers with a valid driver's license. Registration is required and open now at events.teendrive365.com.

New research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals that driver education is associated with a lower incidence of both crashes and convictions – reducing crashes by 4.3 percent and convictions by nearly 40 percent.

"Whether or not a teen has taken formal driver's education, the TeenDrive365 program can help Mississippi families improve their defensive driving skills," said Michael Rouse, Toyota's vice president of diversity, philanthropy and community affairs. "Through Toyota's program, teens get more behind-the-wheel driving experience, and the parents get new tools for coaching and supporting their new drivers."

Mississippi law restricts the time of day on the road and texting of its newest drivers, and TeenDrive365 supplements those rules to look at distractions and safe driving techniques. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 year-olds is nearly three times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over.

Recognizing that parents play a crucial role in developing habits of their teens behind the wheel, Toyota's program uniquely requires a parent or guardian to actively participate in the event with the teen. Parents and teens will make mutual driving agreements and learn communication tips to continue at-home learning.

For more than a decade Toyota has provided teen driver safety resources to help drivers conquer the road safely. TeenDrive365.com offers free online teen safety resources to parents, teens, educators and schools.

ABOUT TOYOTA

Toyota, the world's top automaker and creator of the Prius, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands.  Over the past 50 years, we've built more than 25 million cars and trucks inNorth America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants and directly employ more than 40,000 people.  Our 1,800 North American dealerships sold more than 2.5 million cars and trucks in 2013 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.

Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the country, with a focus on education, safety and the environment.  As part of this commitment, we share the company's extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good. To date, Toyota has contributed more than $700 million to nonprofits in the U.S.  For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com/usa.

Media Contact:

Rebecca Lee
Golin for Toyota
rlee@golin.com
213-438-8827