To help bring awareness of risk-taking behaviors common among young drivers, the Idaho Transportation Department Office of Highway Safety is adopting the program “Alive at 25” in Moscow, Moscow Chief of Police David Duke said.
Duke said “Alive at 25” is a course that brings in individuals ages 15 to 24 to teach them defensive driving techniques, discuss driving issues and have roleplaying exercises and discussions.
It is a program designed to lower the amount of young and new drivers involved in risky driving, he said.
Vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for people between the ages of 16 and 24, according to the “Alive at 25” website.
Duke said this is why a program is needed to show people the dangers of being over-confident and reckless while driving.
To establish the program, they trained instructors and set up a curriculum last week, Duke said.
He said now they just have to wait for the instructors to become certified and process all of the paperwork. After that, people will be able to register for the courses online on the “Alive at 25” website.
Duke said they plan on having courses available by the end of November or beginning of December.
This is the first program of its kind in Moscow, besides driver’s education, and they are looking at various ways to inform.
He said MPD’s liaison office is working with the Dean of Students at the University of Idaho to incorporate the course through campus.
Some insurance companies might reduce premiums if the driver has taken this course, Duke said, while the state decreases the points on a person’s driving record if they take “Alive at 25.” They give credits, too, so that if a person receives a citation the credit can cover that point.
“It’s a free course,” he said. “We would love for students to attend. It doesn’t cost anything but time.”
Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]
For more information about “Alive at 25” or to sign up, visit aliveat25.us