Video series focused on reducing teen crashes

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COLUMBUS – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Traffic Safety Office announced Wednesday that a new educational video aimed at teenage drivers has been released for National Youth Traffic Safety Month in May.

“Any time we can provide more educational resources for Ohio’s young drivers, it makes our roads safer for everyone,” said DeWine. “The safe habits they adopt now will increase the likelihood that they become safe drivers over their lifetimes.”

The five-minute video features young hosts “Ava” and “Noah” explaining Ohio’s traffic laws when it comes to sharing the road with bicyclists, school buses, large trucks, emergency vehicles, and pedestrians. The video is designed to be included as part of the required 24 hours of classroom instruction in driver education classes across Ohio. DeWine announced the first video in the series, which addresses distracted driving, in July. That video has been viewed over 2,800 times on the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s YouTube page in the last eight months.

“The first video we produced for teen drivers was so well-received across the state, that we knew we had to do more,” said Emily Davidson, executive director of the Ohio Traffic Safety Office. “Sharing the road is an important safety topic in our driver education curriculum, and this engaging video demonstrates in a creative and memorable way what young drivers need to know to keep everyone safe on our roads.”

Youth-related (age 15-24) fatal crashes in Ohio have been steadily rising over the past three years:

• There were 290 deaths as a result of youth-related crashes in 2022, accounting for almost 24% of all crashes.

• Young drivers under the age of 24 are involved in 31% of all crashes in Ohio.

• The county with the highest number of youth-related crashes is Hamilton County – with 48,696 crashes since 2018.

Statewide statistics show that “youth-related” is one of the top two crash categories in every Ohio county. Early estimates from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show Ohio ranked ninth in the nation for motor vehicle traffic fatalities in 2022.

See the new teen driver safety video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/wSDJ2CHRXdg.

Submitted by the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

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