KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County's young drivers are encouraged to sign up for a special class offered by the California Highway Patrol that aims to educate them about their responsibilities behind the wheel.

The first “Start Smart” class of 2015 will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 31, at the CHP's Clear Lake Area office, located at 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.

The CHP is offering the free traffic safety class for newly licensed and teenage drivers and their parents or guardians.

The Start Smart program is aimed at helping newly licensed and future licensed teenage drivers understand the critical responsibilities of driving and to understand that accidents happen, but collisions are 100-percent preventable, the CHP reported.

The leading cause of death for Americans 15 to 20 years old is motor vehicle collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“Young drivers, particularly 16- and 17-year-olds, have high fatal crash rates because of limited driving experience and immaturity that often result in high-risk behavior behind the wheel,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported.

In a report to Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration explained that “teen drivers, due to a combination of immaturity and inexperience, have a higher propensity for risk-taking behaviors than do older and more experienced drivers. Research and crash data tell us that teen drivers are less likely to buckle up, and more likely to speed or drive too fast for prevailing conditions.”

In addition, the report explained that other factors that teen novice drivers at greater risk of crash involvement include driving late at night, driving while impaired by alcohol and driving in the presence of teenage passengers.

The CHP's goal in the Start Smart classes is to reduce the death rate among young drivers as the result of collisions.

Start Smart is designed to provide an interactive safe driving awareness class which will illustrate how poor choices behind the wheel of a car can affect the lives of numerous people, the CHP said.

The program also focuses on responsibilities of newly licensed drivers, responsibilities of parents/guardians and, collision avoidance techniques, according to the CHP.

“The CHP is committed to mitigating traffic collisions involving young, inexperienced drivers, because they are preventable.” said Lt. Hector Paredes, commander of the Clear Lake Area office. “Start Smart is an excellent program that promotes safe driving for young new drivers.”

Paredes told Lake County News that he wants to expand the Start Smart program and improve its effectiveness, possibly tying it at some point in the future to a court diversion program for driving infractions for young people.

He'd also like to work with local high schools to promote traffic safety.

Although high schools as a rule no longer have driver education courses, it’s Paredes’ view that the schools have a strong interest in their students being safe on the road.

Space is limited for the Jan. 31 Start Smart class. For more information or reservations, call CHP Officer Kory Reynolds at 707-279-0103. 

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