« Mass State Police may ID victims through vehicles | Today | Alert: R.I. drivers killed in Rte. 95 crash are identified »

November 1, 2007

Program to reduce risky teen driving gets $2M grant

With a $2-million federal grant in hand, Rhode Island Hospital announced today it will continue a program that tries to discourage Rhode Island teen-agers from driving dangerously.

Police, judges, juvenile hearing boards, probation officers, and magistrates can refer Rhode Islanders who are 16 to 20 years old to the Reducing Youthful Dangerous Driving program if they have been charged with and/or convicted of a driving or traffic violation.

The three-week program focuses on "motivational intervention through group-counseling sessions, presentations, discussions and volunteer experiences in either the hospital setting or in the community," a hospital news release states.

The program tries to get young drivers to "evaluate their behavior and perception of risk in relation to alcohol, substance abuse, and driving, so they will want to make behavioral changes on their own," the release states.

When they finish the program, drivers' progress is monitored for at least a year.

The program began in 2001.

“The problem in Rhode Island is clear -- teens frequently engage in dangerous and risky driving, including driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs,” Ted Nirenberg, a Brown University professor and director of the hospital's program, said in the statement. “However, our program has shown excellent promise in helping local teens identify their risky actions and make subsequent changes in their driving behavior.”

The $2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health is going to researchers at Rhode Island Hospital’s Injury Prevention Center.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 12:18 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)