Teen driving car at sunset.

San Luis Obispo County Awarded Grant for Safer Driver Education Program

Author: Behavioral Health
Date: 1/21/2022 12:41 PM

Grant funding from the the California Office of Traffic Safety will benefit safe driving programs for local SLO County teens.

The County of San Luis Obispo Behavioral Health Department has received a $76,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to increase education among students and young adults about driving responsibly and safely. The Department’s Prevention & Outreach Division will use the funds to increase education around traffic safety and raise awareness about the risks around teen driving.

Driving a vehicle remains the most dangerous activity among teens ages 16-19 years old. Teen drivers are nearly four times as likely to be involved in a crash as drivers in all other age groups.

“Like most learned skills, experience and training make you better and more prepared as a driver,” Megan Frauenheim, Behavioral Health Specialist said. “Inexperience leads to mistakes and bad habits could affect someone’s driving skills for life, which is why it is important to instill safe driving habits in young drivers. Our goal is to educate local teens about the risks they face when driving, so we can prevent crashes and injuries in our community.

The Safe Driver Education Program grant will allow funding through September 2022 for several activities and initiatives to take place at local SLO County high school and college campuses including:

  • Education campaigns focused on impaired and distracted driving, especially during major national traffic safety events such as the Super Bowl, National Holidays, Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and Summer Enforcement Mobilizations.
  • Ongoing marketing campaigns to reach students on social media and encouraging safe driving habits.
  • Traffic safety presentations to middle, high school, and college students.

Funding for the Safer Driver Education Program is provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Learn more information on San Luis Obispo County Friday Night Live (FNL) programs for youth by visiting slofnl.com.

For more information contact Megan Frauenheim, 805-781-4278, [email protected].