ITD recently re-tooled its teen driving website (above) to make it more friendly for access by smart phones and tablets. Below is an example of the site's earlier homepage.

ITD's teen driver website goes mobile friendly

An important online resource for young drivers and their parents has become mobile-device friendly. Recent changes to the website, at www.idahoteendriving.org, allow the web-based resource to smoothly display its highway safety-related content to smart phones, tablets and laptops.

Provided by the Idaho Transportation Department's Office of Highway Safety, www.idahoteendriving.org offers young drivers and their parents an online resource supporting the practice of safe driving among young adults and providing a way to learn more about responsible driving.

"The aim of Idaho Teen Driving is to encourage safe driving among young adults, educate them about risky driving behaviors, and reduce their chances of being in a crash," said Margaret Goertz, youthful driver program coordinator with ITD's Office of Highway Safety.

"We know that more and more of the young people we are trying to reach use smart phones or tablets to access our web-based content," Goertz explained. "Our goal for redesigning the website was to make it easier to navigate and access content with these new tools."

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers, accounting for more than one in three fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Per mile driven, teenage drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.

Idaho drivers, ages 19 and under, were involved in more than twice as many fatal or injury traffic crashes as should be expected in 2013.  This age group comprised nearly six percent of all licensed drivers in the state at that time, but represented more than 13 percent of all drivers involved in fatal and injury crashes.

The website provides resources and informational articles about safe driving for teenage drivers, young adult drivers, parents and even children, who may one day become drivers.

The site contains links, videos and stories about distracted driving, impaired driving, winter driving, driver's education, motorcycles, passenger safety, bicycles, pedestrians and even how to change a tire.

Visitors may connect to ITD's 511 Traveler Services site for the latest road and weather conditions. Links to ITD's home page, safety statistics, Idaho's Division of Motor Vehicles and driver education programs at public and commercial schools also are available.  

Young people may sign up for Alive at 25 driver awareness courses taught at different locations throughout the state, visit the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) website and learn about rider training offered by the Idaho STAR Motorcycle Safety Program.

Lesson plans are available that provide ideas and resources for elementary school educators to teach safety-related transportation practices.

Published 02-27-15