Sheriff ’s offices promote safe teen driving

With accredited law enforcement officers acting as course instructors, students learn roadway safety and defensive driving skills, both in the classroom and in the car.

For Grand Island mother Christine Dwyer, a nurse who understands first-hand the devastation car crashes cause, the idea of her 17-year-old son Michael behind the wheel was cause for concern.

“I didn’t want him to drive, but it’s unavoidable,” she said. “It does give me a little bit [of ] piece of mind having him go through that course.”

“That course” is the Teen Driver Challenge, a two-day driving class Michael took in early June through the Lake County Sheriff ’s Office.

Founded in 2007, the Teen Driver Challenge is offered in about three dozen Florida counties, according to the Florida Sheriffs Association, which runs it at the state level.

Besides Lake, participating Central Florida counties include Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Brevard and Polk.

With accredited law enforcement officers acting as course instructors, students learn roadway safety and defensive driving skills, both in the classroom and in the car.

More than 2,000 teens take the class annually, according to the sheriffs association.

“We have been contacted numerous times by past students and parents of past students to tell us that the techniques taught in the program either helped them avoid a serious crash or even a potential fatality,” Lake sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. Michael W. Marden said.

In 2015, the latest year for which data was available, Florida registered 42,874 teen driver crashes, according to The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The agency said 92 teen drivers and 47 teen passengers died on the road, while 11,085 teen drivers and 8,248 teen passengers were injured.

This week, State Farm awarded the sheriffs association $75,000 to fund the Teen Driver Challenge, spokeswoman Nanette Schimpf said.

“State Farm’s support has helped us tremendously over the past seven years,” said Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, who was then the sheriffs association president and accepted the award.

“We look forward to continue working with them to keep our roads and youngest drivers safe throughout the state of Florida,” he added.

Orange County does not offer the Teen Driver Challenge because “the sheer volume of what we do at the Orange County Sheriff's Office would not allow us to manage [it],” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson said.

In part because Farm’s sponsorship, is generally free.

However, Seminole County participants must provide a $50 refundable deposit to reserve a spot, according to the Seminole sheriff ’s office website.

Every other month, Lake County charges teens with a court order $100 for the course. This helps cover food and beverage costs for the “non-violators” who will take the course the following month, Marden said.

As Michael prepares to get his driver’s license next week and take to the road solo, his parents are breathing a little easier.

“If [other parents] have an opportunity to get their son or daughter into this program, we highly recommend it,” they said. of State the program