What to Do When Your Teenager Asks: "Can I Borrow the Car?"

          GEICO Hosts Lakeland Video Premiere March 4 to Provide
                 Parents With Lesson Plan for Safe Driving

                 Media is Invited to Attend this Premiere

What is one of the scariest questions your young teen driver can ask? At the top of the list is, "Can I borrow the car?"

GEICO has invited Lakeland area high school parent groups, PTAs, city officials and civic groups in the Polk County area to attend a video premiere of "Can I Borrow the Car?" to help parents be prepared when that question comes up. The video premiere is set for Tuesday, March 4, 7 p.m. at Harrison Center for the Performing Arts, 750 Hollingsworth Road, Lakeland.

The video offers specific rules that parents need to establish for students just learning to drive and make the case for parents taking charge of their teen's early driving habits. GEICO's purpose in premiering the new video is to help reduce fatal teen accidents.

Parents need to be aware that more than one-third of all teenage deaths are due to auto accidents.

"When you look at the statistics like we do," said GEICO Chairman and CEO Tony Nicely, "we knew we had to do something to help parents become better informed and give them some real information to help keep their children safe."

GEICO is offering the video, brochures and other related safe teen driving materials free to high school organizations and civic and community groups that will get the message to parents of young teen drivers. The video was originally developed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as teen crash statistics painted a grim picture of teen driving behaviors.

Parents who are interested in attending the March 4 video premier at GEICO can contact Andrea Matthews at 863-646-9790.

More information about the program and how to obtain GEICO's safe teen driving materials is also available on the GEICO Web site, http://www.geico.com/ at "Can I Borrow the Car?"

GEICO is the sixth largest auto insurer in the country and uses television, radio, print media and direct mail to attract customers to call its 1-800-841-3000 number. GEICO offers sales and claim services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is the largest direct marketer of auto insurance. It insures more than 4.8 million policyholders. For more information, readers can go to http://www.geico.com/ .

PRNewswire -- Feb. 25