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Goertz's work on defensive driving course earns praise

Efforts to bring the successful “Alive at 25” defensive driving course to communities across Idaho earned praise for ITD’s Margaret Goertz in a letter sent recently to Mary Hunter, ITD highway safety manager.

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Joy Grissom, national training director for Alive at 25 National Law Enforcement Curriculum, cited Goertz’s “great passion for positively impacting her community and state by providing educational facets to the Idaho Transportation Department’s programs.”

“She has projected a professional, organized and helpful image throughout all of my dealings with her,” Grissom states in her letter. “She has strived to give the program a standard of excellence and impact.”

“Alive at 25” is a 4 1/2-hour defensive driving program presented by law enforcement officers to local community members ages 15-24. This age group is at the highest risk of being involved in fatal and injury crashes.

The highly interactive program originated in Colorado and is managed through a joint partnership of the National Safety Council, the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado State Patrol Family Foundation.

Goertz has worked with Grissom on three training sessions for instructors in Idaho.

“Margaret is always open-minded to any ideas that I or others have given her in an effort to build the program further,” Grissom writes.

“Margaret has also built incredible partnerships with many Idaho law enforcement agencies by helping them see a pro-active approach and opportunity to lowering preventable young driver crashes,” according to the letter. “This large network of agencies committed to impacting young driver safety has already seen growth in less than two years.”

The letter identifies increases in instructors and partnering agencies, additional classes provided, media recognition and statistical data as evidence of her success.”

“I credit a great deal of this growth to Margaret’s perseverance and commitment,” Grissom writes. “Margaret has been wonderful to work with and I have a great respect and admiration for her drive and passion to save lives.”

Photo: Alive at 25 class delivered to law enforcement officers at the POST Academy in Meridian.