LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 13, 2011) - A new coaching device is now available free of charge to Automobile Club of Southern California insured members with teen drivers also insured through the Auto Club. As part of an ongoing program to enhance teen driver safety and to recognize National Teen Driver Safety Week starting October 16, the Auto Club began offering the GPS device through its AAA OnBoard® Teen Safe Driver Program.
Nationally, traffic crashes rank as the No. 1 cause of death for 16-to-19-year olds, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. In California during 2009, 264 15-to-19-year-olds were killed and another 26,116 were injured in traffic crashes.
"The Auto Club is known for developing programs that promote responsible driving among teens and for giving parents effective tools to help coach and guide their children through this difficult and dangerous first stage of driving," said David Lang, vice president of automotive services. "AAA OnBoard uses some of the latest automotive technology to help give parents peace of mind."
The AAA OnBoard Device plugs into a vehicle's diagnostic port (for model years 1996 and newer) enabling wireless communications between the vehicle driven by the teen and a password-protected online website accessible to parents. Parents who are participating in the year-long pilot program reported that it improved their teens' driving behaviors, getting them to focus more on their driving and helping them be more aware and responsible drivers.
"We like the safety features," said Michael A. Williams, whose stepdaughter has used AAA Onboard in the family's Volkswagen. "She was out late one night, and I logged onto the computer to see where she was. The computer showed that she stopped at a restaurant, and later that the vehicle was parked in the mall parking lot while she was at a movie. It helped us to know she was someplace safe and familiar."
"It has spurred many good conversations," said parent and Auto Club employee David Klisares, who has used AAA OnBoard in his son's car for a year. "We were talking about speeding with him, because the device said he was going faster than we had set. He said to us, 'I couldn't be speeding, because I'm going the same speed as everyone else!' Then we discussed what speeding actually is and how to avoid it."
AAA OnBoard allows parents to set geographic boundaries, speed limits and curfews and monitor their teen's driving at any time. If any of the pre-set limits are violated, the parent is sent a text or email alert. The Auto Club and its affiliates do not use data collected through the AAA OnBoard Teen Safe Driver program to rate a participant's insurance policy. Anonymous aggregate data from the program will be used by the Auto Club to improve existing services and for research purposes in order to develop new services and products, including insurance discounts.
At any time, parents can log onto their password-protected online account to see a summary of their teen's driving trips for any day over a three-month period, including the number of trips, when and where they began and ended, and whether the prescribed speed limit was followed. They can also compile longer term reports of a week or a month to help identify the areas where they need to coach their teen about responsible driving behaviors.
To help provide parents with peace of mind while their teens are driving, the AAA OnBoard website helps a parent locate their teen's vehicle. If the vehicle breaks down, the Auto Club can use AAA OnBoard to locate it and provide roadside assistance more quickly in areas where cellular and GPS access is available. Depending on the make and model, the Auto Club can access basic vehicle trouble codes from the On Board Diagnostics port (OBDII) that could help determine the type of roadside service that is needed.
"The Auto Club is providing AAA OnBoard free of charge to help parents keep their teens safe on the road," said Anita Lorz, Auto Club manager of traffic safety and community affairs. "However, the most important message that we can convey to all parents is to be a good role model as a driver, and to be there as a coach when your teen is ready to drive. Starting at an early age, your children are watching how you drive and what you do as you drive."
In addition to announcing AAA OnBoard this October, the Auto Club has launched a teen video safety contest to create effective peer-to-peer driving safety messages, will be hosting a teen driver safety fair in San Diego, and is providing a Teen Driver Safety package for members. The Auto Club also provides Dare to Prepare classes for parents and pre-driving age teens, as well as a teen driving school and other online resources for teens and parents at TeenDriving.AAA.com.
For more information about AAA Onboard please call 877-270-3356 or visit a local Auto Club branch.
Contact Information:
CONTACT:
Jeffrey Spring or Elaine Beno
(714) 885-2333
