Community Traffic Safety Program Coordinators in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties in Southern Maryland are joining together to protect area teen drivers with a pilot traffic safety program – DriveCam.
Based on innovative technology that has enhanced the safety of business and corporate fleets around the world, DriveCam, Inc. released a consumer product for families, which provides a watchful eye over new drivers.  Three hundred volunteer families are being sought – interested parents and teens are encouraged to contact the project coordinators – contact information is below.

Funded through the Maryland State Highway Administration’s Highway Safety Office, the Southern Maryland DriveCam Program will provide 300 families with the monitoring devices in a pilot project.  The study will evaluate how effective the program is as an educational tool for parents and newly-licensed teens in order to transition young drivers into fully-independent, safe and competent drivers.

DriveCam, Inc. is a proven leader in applying science to identify and reduce risky driving behaviors for business/corporate fleets around the world.  In February, 2008 they released their consumer product for families.

The DriveCam for Families program uses innovative technology and parent feedback to help teens become safer, more confident drivers.  An in-car monitoring system takes brief video clips about 10-20 seconds in length to capture exception-based “events” – such as sudden braking, swerving, acceleration or a collision. The short video clip includes interior and exterior views of the critical seconds before and after the erratic vehicle movement so parents and the teen driver learn what happened and why.  Parents can access the password protected “event” video clip a day or two later.  The clip will also have DriveCam's scoring and analysis listed, with additional professional coaching tips and comments attached. 

Typically, less than 1 percent of a teen’s driving is recorded by DriveCam.  As the number of recorded events decrease, their privacy increases.  If an event occurs, a participating teen driver will know, as a light flashes on the camera unit.  This awareness allows the teen the opportunity to discuss what occurred with their parents, one-on-one before the video clip is made available online by DriveCam.  When parents access the video clip it documents what led to the driving incident, as well as response to the incident, so a parent will be able to fully review the incident, and determine if their teen needs to improve skills or modify behavior.  If a teen driver or passenger is seen unbelted while the vehicle is in motion and an event is captured, parents will be notified by DriveCam.

The DriveCam program has been featured on ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC’s Dateline, as a tool for parents to decrease risky driving by their teens.

“Although the news programs focused on preventing risky driving behaviors, our focus is somewhat different – we want to evaluate this technology for its effectiveness in readying and improving the driving of our youngest, and most vulnerable, drivers,” stated Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator of the Maryland State Highway Administration and Governor’s Highway Safety Representative.  “Creating safe young drivers is a key part of the overall strategic highway safety plan, and we expect that the 300 families volunteering for the program will provide us with good data and the additional research needed to expand young driver education programs.”

Debbie Jennings, Calvert County Community Traffic Safety Program Coodinator states “In the past, we’ve relied on legislative initiatives, public awareness efforts and GDL law enforcement programs to reduce teen driver crashes.  DriveCam is a technology that will allow parents to determine when their teens are ready for more freedom, once the teen has met the standards set by Maryland MVA.  Our goal is to learn whether parental usage of this technology can prevent future tragedies and build stronger, more experienced, confident young drivers.”

“Typically, teen crashes occur because of a moment or two of inattention, inexperience in handling a specific situation, or perhaps a poor decision. We want parents to know if their teen needs help in developing skills, building confidence or determining appropriate behaviors while behind the wheel. We also want them to know when their teen has done well when reacting to unexpected situations on our highways – and to feel confident in rewarding them with more independence behind the wheel.”

The Southern Maryland DriveCam program will be free for participants in the pilot project. It is anticipated that the camera installations will begin in July, and remain in teens’ vehicles through the coming 2009-2010 school year.  The project includes a one-year service contract and free camera installation by experts at convenient locations in the region.

It is anticipated that, if considered a successful program, that technologically-based programs could be expanded to other regions based on funding availability.

Parents in Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties may contact the CTSP Coordinator in their County for more information on how to enroll in the program.  The contacts are:  Jackie Beckman, CTSP Coordinator for St. Mary’s County at Jackie.Beckman@co.saint-marys.md.us or 301 475-4200 x 1850; Rebecca Martin, CTSP Coordinator for Charles County at martinb@ccso.us or 301 932-3056; and Debbie Jennings, CTSP Coordinator for the Calvert County Traffic Safety Council at jennindk@co.cal.md.us or 410 535-2200