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Driver’s Edge in Line for Safety Honor
Dec 10 2007 by Courtney Messenbaugh
12/10/2007
Nonprofit Deserves Recognition for Educating Teens
At the risk of being fired, I have a confession to make: I failed my driving test the first time I took it. Not the written exam, the actual driving part. You see, I never took driver's education; it just didn't appeal to me. It came down to spending fifth period with Jane Austen's strong heroines and dreamy suitors in AP English Lit or driving around a bunch of orange cones. No contest. Of course, had Driver's Edge existed during my high school days, I just might have passed that test the first time.
The Chief Mama here at Mother Proof has written about Driver's Edge before, so you might already be familiar with it. Motor vehicle collisions are the No. 1 killer of America's youth, and Driver's Edge is trying to do something about that. The no-cost, nonprofit organization teaches skills that aren't available in traditional driver's ed classes. Our kids will be driving sooner than we'd like, and we want them (and us) to live through it.
Now, Driver's Edge has been nominated for a Volvo for Life Award, in the Safety category. We've also written about the VFLAs before; they happen each year when Volvo calls for nominations of seemingly ordinary people who do extraordinary things in their community. Anyone can submit a nomination; Driver's Edge was nominated by a mom in Southern California.
Thousands of nominations are received each year, and Volvo whittles them down to 10 semifinalists in each of three categories: Safety, Quality of Life and Environment. The top three in each category are determined by a public vote. After that, a panel of esteemed judges (think Hank Aaron of baseball fame and Maya Lin, who created the Vietnam War memorial in Washington, D.C.) determine a winner in each category and, from those choices, one grand prize winner.
Steven Tepper, COO and co-principal of Driver's Edge, described the process as a bit like "charitable causes meets "Dancing With the Stars" meets "American Idol," with a touch of "Survivor" thrown in for good measure."
"Luckily," he said, "neither Jeff [Payne, the founder of Driver's Edge] nor I are going to have to sing or dance. Not pretty — we'd be booted off in a heartbeat."
Bummer! We were looking forward to that.
The winner gets $100,000 from Volvo, so the company has plenty of incentive to campaign for the honor.
"We'll be emailing every student and parent that's ever been to a Driver's Edge event and hope they cast a vote or two — or a hundred," Steven said. The way the contest is set up, users can vote as often as they'd like, as long as each vote is at least a minute apart.
"We're also hoping the Mother Proof readers will help us out," Steven said. "Those incredibly loyal, safety-conscious and charitable readers who are so fantastically smart and charitable — and did I mention smart and charitable?"
Oh, stop! Really? Smart and charitable? Go on, tell us more.
"All kidding aside, the other nine nominees in our category are a remarkable group of people," Steven said. "Each is dedicated to their cause and making a difference in people's lives every day. It's pretty tough to single out three as "better" and one as "the best," so it's quite an honor for everyone involved with Driver's Edge to have been nominated."
The public vote for the VFLAs is going on right now, which means you have until Jan. 7 to visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com, read about each semifinalist and cast your votes for the people and organizations you think deserve to make it to the finals. Personally, I'll be voting for Jane Austen's dreamy suitors — and Driver's Edge.
User Comments
It’s a staggering statistic, isn’t it? The worst part is that it’s true. Let’s hope Driver’s Edge can change the world before my daughters start driving (they have all of…oh…8 years to accomplish that). No pressure, guys, really.
What an incredible way to come across your name again.
Very moved, so clearly you.
Driver’s Edge is truly making a difference, as of course it would with you at the helm.
Rock.
I had no idea that deaths on the road are the #1 killer of 15-21 year olds in the US.
It’s a terrible statistic I have a feeling that it might be similar in the UK as well.
Anyway, on a positive note your post has added another vote for Jeff.