IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2006

16-Year Old Teens May Not Receive Driver License
2004 Legislation Requires Driver Education 

Atlanta--Joshua’s Law, named after high school senior Joshua Brown killed in a vehicle crash, was passed by the Georgia General Assembly and requires all teens to take driver education to get their Restricted Driver License before the age of 17. This requirement takes effect January 1, 2006.

“Driver education should be as mandatory as keyboarding, but we cannot remain satisfied with the methods that were developed 50 years ago and still being taught today,” says Alan Brown, father of Joshua and author of the legislation.  “LuGina and I are members of a club that no parent wants to be part of. The pain is constant and the emptiness will never go away.”

The National Teen Research Center, established by the Joshua Brown Foundation (a 501c3 non-profit organization) at the Burruss Institute of Kennesaw State University, has enlisted the skills of national adolescent behavior scientists, simulation experts, and traffic safety professionals to define 21st Century Driver Training.

21st Century Driver Training requires the technological and educational culture of today that includes immersive virtual learning to be effective. The key elements of a practical and successful program include three basic elements:

• Accessibility—improved driver training needs to be centered within a learning environment that is easily accessed by teens and families
• Affordability—the law includes a 5% fee on all traffic violations in Georgia with the intent of providing the money necessary to fund effective driver training
• Effectiveness—training programs need to be measured for outcomes that show a reduction in death and injury to teens and their passengers

“Shifting the safety paradigm from education to training is an important part of reducing teen driving injuries and death,” offers Dr. Jim Voorhees, NTRC Advisory Board member and President of Instructional Technologies, Inc. “We can save lives if we do it right.”

For additional information regarding Joshua’s Law, contact Pat Wilder, Executive Director of the Joshua Brown Foundation at savingteenlives@teenresearchcenter.org or 678-797-2303. For more details regarding Joshua’s Law, go to http://www.dds.ga.gov/teens/index.aspx “Important Notice to Teen Drivers and Their Parents” or www.joshuabrownfoundation.org.