Savannah, GA – The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has renewed Savannah Technical College’s grant ($140,571.50) for a second year (FY22) to operate the Coastal Georgia Center for Driver Safety.

Grant funds will continue to provide distracted and impaired driver prevention education for youth and parents in Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty counties. These activities include community- and school-based workshops, virtual reality simulation education, social media messaging, and the promotion of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapters in all of area high schools.

In the grant’s initial year (FY21), a two-hour workshop was created for families of teen drivers to educate them on the dangers of distracted driving. The workshop has been presented to nearly 400 families. Five Virtual Reality simulators were also purchased during the initial year for teenagers to experience a five-minute distracted driving experience (300+ teenagers) and a 25-minute driving experience (1,235 teenagers). The grant also developed a monthly media campaign about the dangers of distracted driving and impaired driving with a focus on young drivers. The grant also included promoting the SADD program to all 20 public high schools in the grant’s four-county service area.

Additional priorities for FY22 include focusing on reaching private school students, attending more community events, and networking with community partners and colleges.

The top five dangers for younger drivers include distractions like cell phones and passengers; driving at night (drowsiness); speeding and street racing; not wearing seat belts; and impairments like underage drinking and drugs. The goal of the Coastal Georgia Center for Driver Safety is to bring awareness to young, young adults and parents about the dangers of distracted driving.