You might be surprised to learn what the number one cause of death is for teenagers in America. It's not drugs. It's not guns or other violence. It’s not terminal illness. It's motor vehicle collisions. In fact, motor vehicle collisions are the number one killer of young people, ages fifteen to twenty-one annually. Jeff Payne, a performance-driving instructor for over twenty years, recognized this problem and founded the nonprofit group, Driver’s Edge, as a solution.

Most young drivers in America are merely taught to pass a test; they're not really being taught how to drive. While learning to parallel park is useful, it's not going to help save a life when you're in a skid, or when the truck in front of you slams on its brakes, or when a tire blows out on a busy highway. Unfortunately, most of the essential skills to safely maneuver such situations are not taught in "traditional" drivers' education, and that's where Driver's Edge comes in. Driver's Edge offers free driver's education programs for young people. Jeff's team of dedicated professional instructors gives students comprehensive instruction in defensive driving, including collision avoidance, skid control, evasive lane change maneuvers, controlled panic braking techniques, and much more. Through a mix of behind-the-wheel defensive driving exercises and interactive classroom sessions, the innovative program aims to erase the "fast-and-furious" style marring many young adults' driving skills.

Jeff's vision for safer driving – and thus fewer tragedies – through a free, behind-the-wheel instructional program appears to be working. A Driver's Edge survey contrasted the driving record of one thousand graduates one year after the program against a corresponding group that did not attend. Graduates of Driver's Edge had fifty-three percent less collisions than nonparticipants. To expand the program's reach still further, Jeff organizes ongoing safe teen driving events in Las Vegas and has initiated the Driver's Edge National Tour, which takes the program to twenty cities each year.

Since the program's inception, over forty thousand young drivers and their parents around the country have attended. Comparable young adult driver's programs can charge as much as five hundred dollars. But Jeff Payne offers Driver's Edge free of cost because he believes that all young adults – not just those who can afford it – should have access to a driver's education that could one day save their lives.

To learn more about Jeff Payne and his cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit: www.driversedge.org.

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