Free MetLife Auto & Home Brochure Provides Tips
28 March 2000
Free MetLife Auto & Home Brochure Provides Tips So Beginning Drivers Make It Home Safely
WARWICK, R.I., March 28 Motor vehicle crashes are the
leading cause of death for American teenagers according to industry experts.
Many teens don't have the experience, skills or knowledge needed to make good
decisions on the road.
As part of its continuing efforts to educate parents and teens on safe
driving, MetLife Auto & Home is offering a free brochure entitled "Beginning
Drivers: Helping Them Make it Home." Parents can request the free brochure
by calling 1-800-MET-LIFE.
"At MetLife Auto & Home we believe it's critical to educate young drivers
before they get behind the wheel," said Catherine Rein, president and CEO of
MetLife Auto & Home. "This brochure is just one of our many efforts to be the
preeminent safety-conscious insurance company and to make our roadways safer
for all," said Rein.
According to Rein, teens should be aware of the following dangers before
getting behind the wheel:
* Using excessive speed
* Failure to wear a seat belt
* Inattentiveness
* Distraction inside the automobile (e.g. -- changing a tape or compact
disk, eating or drinking, using a car phone)
* Inadequate defensive driving techniques
* Incorrect assumptions about another driver
* Tailgating or not leaving enough space between vehicles -- even on the
open road
* Not checking traffic before pulling out
* Passing without checking for traffic in the passing lane
* Not checking behind for oncoming cars when pulling away from the curb
Driving is a far more complex task than most 16 year-olds realize.
Allen F. Williams of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety explains that
beginners "have to accumulate a lot of experience before they're able to
combine steering with scanning the environment and putting it all together,
all at the same time, behind the wheel."
The "Beginning Drivers: Helping Them Make It Home Safely" brochure
provides statistics that teen drivers need to know. It includes information
about how driving with passengers complicates the driving situation and how
the number of teen driving fatalities increases with the number of passengers.
In addition, many teens die in single car crashes. Forty-one percent of
16-year-old drivers in fatal crashes involved only the teen's vehicle. The
vehicle generally left the road and overturned or struck an object like a tree
or pole. This is by far the biggest crash type among 16-year-old drivers.
During a typical weekend, one teenager dies each hour in a crash, with nearly
50 percent of those crashes involving alcohol.
MetLife Auto & Home also offers the public its free popular guide for
parents, "Teaching Your Teens to Drive (Without Driving Each Other Crazy)" by
calling 1-800-MET-LIFE. This 16-page booklet, reviewed by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, offers parents a step-by-step roadmap
to help make their teens safer drivers. Other brochures are available at
http://www.metlife.com .
Note: MetLife Auto & Home is one of the nation's largest personal lines
property and casualty companies with over 2.4 million policies in force. An
affiliate of MetLife, it provides insurance products for the auto, home,
apartment, condominium, boat, vacation and rental property, recreational
vehicle, as well as personal excess liability. For more information about
MetLife Auto & Home's products and services, please contact your local MetLife
representative, Property and Casualty Specialist, or authorized Independent
Agent; visit MetLife's Web site at http://www.metlife.com ; or call
1-800-422-4272.
Contact: Joe Madden (401)827-2015 Anne Lipsitz (401)827-2021
Jmadden@metlife.com Alipsitz@metlife.com
