108th Safety Office Conducts Innuagural Course Published April 19, 2009 108th Safety Office April 19, 2009 -- "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." -Mark Twain Time and experience can be a great teacher as Mark Twain found out. The National Safety Council has developed a Defensive Driving Course, "Alive at 25®" to help younger drivers. According to the council, although young drivers represent only 6.5 percent of the nation's licensed drivers, they are involved in 12.2 percent of fatal crashes. The 108th Air Refueling Wing Safety Office recently conducted the first Alive at 25® course by an Air Guard unit. This four hour course developed for drivers in the 16- 24 year age group has the goal of reducing the number of injuries and collisions that happen to people in this age group. The course focus is on persuading attendees to take personal responsibility for their behavior in driving situations and to adopt safe driving practices. Instructors emphasize things such as: why they often underestimate risk, effects of peer pressure, distractions (cell phones, texting, and other devices in a car), responsibilities of passengers and more. Dawn Brindle of the National Guard Bureau congratulated the instructors for their initiative. "It's always a welcomed opportunity to interact with young people. This class gave me great personal satisfaction knowing that we were able to give them the tools they need to make responsible driving decisions," said instructor Denis Dzurinko." scholarship