Description

“As a parent, I worry that I have not done enough to help prepare my teen for the responsibility of driving. Driver Education addresses traffic laws, hazards, and rules of the road, but what about distracted driving? Plan My Ride provides “peace of mind” that my young driver has the knowledge and skills to avoid driving distracted or under the influence.”
Marissa, Parent and Plan My Ride Customer 

Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death amongst teenagers each year. While adding a teen driver is an exciting milestone for many households, it can also be a significant source of stress for parents and guardians. Inclement weather, lengthy trips, distraction, drowsiness, and impaired driving are just a few of the issues that new drivers must learn to handle and avoid.  

Driver education programs typically provide instruction on traffic laws, vehicle operation, and handling driving hazards. However, many programs do not thoroughly address distracted and impaired driving. Some programs may briefly touch on these issues but fail to offer young drivers alternatives and strategies to avoid these risky behaviors. 

The Plan My Ride program teaches these much-needed avoidance skills through an easy-to-use web-based program. This self-paced, interactive traffic safety education program provides young drivers the added knowledge and strategies to avoid distracted and impaired driving. Leading behavioral psychologists developed this research-based program and tested it for effectiveness. 

Students access the program and complete five separate lessons designed in look, feel, tone, and content to engage them effectively. 360-degree videos allow students to apply and practice the learned skills in real-life scenarios before taking a knowledge test and printing a certificate of completion.   

 

Program Content and Learning Objectives

Lesson #	Lesson title	Approximate lesson length (minutes)	Mode of delivery	Learning objectives
1	Driving skills	15	Online training	Describe the three key types of skills needed to drive: Cognitive, perceptual, and physical skills.
2	Avoiding distractions while driving	30	Online training	Explain how cell phone use affects your cognitive, perceptual, and physical skills.  Identify 3 or more strategies you can use to avoid being tempted to use your cell phone while driving.  Describe your plan to incorporate strategies into your day-to-day- life to build skills and healthy habits.
3	Avoiding substance-impaired driving	20	Online training	Explain how substance use affects your cognitive, perceptual, and physical skills  Describe the laws related to substance impaired driving.  Identify the strategies you can use to avoid driving impaired due to substances.
4	Practice avoiding distracted driving	10	360-degree interactive video scenario	Practice using proactive strategies to avoid cell phone use and driving  Practice using in the moment strategies to avoid using a cell phone while driving
5	Practice avoiding substance-impaired driving	10	360-degree interactive video scenario	Practice using proactive strategies to avoid driving impaired due to substance use  Practice refusal skills to avoid using substances  Practice using proactive strategies to avoid driving impaired due to substance use
Test	Knowledge test	10	Online test	Test knowledge about impaired driving
Total		90

 

Plan My Ride Benefits

For parents: 

• Plan My Ride is an essential supplement to any Driver Education Program 
• Ensures young drivers will build critical skills to keep them safe while driving 
• Improves critical decision-making skills while driving 

 

For students: 

• Highly relevant, interactive, and engaging 
• Learn and practice how to be a safer driver 
• Receive immediate feedback on knowledge assessments 
• Receive a system-generated certificate of completion 

 

 

 

“The topic of driving distracted was one that I feel we didn’t spend too much time on in Driver’s Ed, so it was nice to have a program dedicated just to that, because I think it is incredibly important.” Olivia, Plan My Ride Student

 

 

Plan My Ride is available for purchase by parents. Innocorp’s other awareness tools found on this site are available for purchase by education, safety, and prevention professionals and organizations only. If interested in these additional resources, consider working with your local school, police department, or community coalition to sponsor a kit or product for their use.