Toyota Driving Expectations Program Attacks Deadly Teen Accident Rates

Unique Safe Driving Program Targets Teens AND Parents with Real-World Scenarios

WHAT: Toyota Driving Expectations is a four-hour program bringing Detroit-area teens and their parents together to learn proper driving techniques from professional drivers. It is also designed to teach parents how to be good driving role models and teachers.

WHAT ELSE: The program's multiple driving courses and classroom instruction for teens and their parents go beyond what is currently taught in driver's training classes to help provide teens with the experience they need to identify and react in dangerous driving situations. In addition, a distracted driving course has teens navigate a course drinking water, listening to loud music and talking on a cell phone to demonstrate just how dangerous these activities can be while driving.

WHY: * A recent crash that claimed the lives of two Sumpter Mich. teens captured the attention of the entire Detroit area. * Although teens make up only 6.6 percent of licensed drivers, they suffer 14 percent of all auto-related fatalities and driver error is involved in 77 percent of the fatal crashes involving 16-year-olds. * In 2005, nearly 5,700 teens died in automobile accidents. * Beyond the driving education courses teens take to get their license or receive in school, parents are their teen's main teachers. However, most parents receive no formal training on how to teach their teen driving techniques.

WHEN: Friday, April 27, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday - Sunday, April 28 - 29, 8:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. First program session (of two): Friday, April 27 at 1 p.m. Additional media opportunities on Saturday and Sunday (12 sessions will be held over the weekend)

WHERE: DTE Energy Music Theatre Cost: This event is FREE! 7773 Pine Knob Rd. Clarkston, MI 48348 Visit www.toyotadrivingexpectations.com

VISUALS: * Multiple, coned tracks with various obstacles and challenges similar to what teenage drivers will encounter daily on the road * Controlled skidding section where drivers to feel and see how anti-lock braking systems work and how to engage them on both wet and dry roads * Distracted driving - while maneuvering the course, teens will explore the world of distractions by talking on cell phones, listening to loud music and drinking water