Safe Teen Driver Program To Protect America's Teens From Their Leading Cause of Death, Car Crashes

    FAIRFAX, Va.--Sept. 18, 2002--CARFAX(R), industry leader and creator of the vehicle history report, announced today that it is implementing major initiatives designed to empower parents and educate teens in safe driving principals, thus reducing the risks of being involved in a fatal or disabling automobile crash.
    Startling statistics published by Advocates for Highway Safety state that car crashes are the number one cause of death for sixteen year olds. "That means the number one risk for sixteen year olds is just getting behind the wheel of a car," says president of CARFAX, Dick Raines, "As parents of young drivers, we can and should make a difference."
    To increase awareness, CARFAX, with industry and safety experts has begun a program to make parents and teens aware of risks and safety measures for young drivers.
    "As we started learning that a large part of our customer base were parents interested in their teens and safe driving, we said let's take the next step," explains Raines. "Let's not just help them get into safe cars, let's help them become better coaches and make their teens into safer drivers."
    The program's home base is an online resource center (go to Carfax.com, click on Teen link) for parents and teens which provides access to the best and most effective information about buying and driving safer vehicles. One key component of the program is an email drive designed to reach the millions of parents who have or will have teens at the driving age in their household.
    "The idea is to remind parents about all of the good driving habits they've learned through years of experience," says Raines, "Bolstered by these reminders, parents can be more effective coaches as they face their teen who is sitting behind the wheel."
    Parent Lee Jacobson, of Sterling, VA, had this to say about the program: "This is a great source of information for parents of teen drivers and is extremely useful as a resource to help parents teach their child to be a safe driver."
    Parents and teens can access the site by going to www.carfax.com and clicking on the Teen link.

    ABOUT CARFAX(R)

    Founded in 1984, CARFAX(R) pioneered the concept of the vehicle history report - the instant background check on any used car. CARFAX Vehicle History Reports can confirm a clean title history or identify serious problems with any used car, including salvage history, odometer fraud, flood damage and more. CARFAX helps millions of consumers and thousands of car dealers avoid buying used cars with costly hidden problems. Using the 17-character Vehicle ID Number (VIN), used car buyers can access nearly two billion vehicle history records from hundreds of different sources in the CARFAX nationwide database at www.carfax.com. Every CARFAX Report that confirms a clean title history is backed by the $5,000 Clean Title History Guarantee. CARFAX, Inc., based in Fairfax, Virginia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the R.L. Polk & Co.