- March 28, 2024
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OCOEE — Given the chance, would you register your teenage driver for a free, four-hour safe driving course using instructor-provided cars, right here in West Orange?
Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe (BRAKES) is providing that opportunity four times between March 14 and 15 at Manheim Orlando in Ocoee, its fourth such visit in the last two years.
“I take over the Manheim Auto Auction lot — they’re partners of ours supporting teen safe driving,” BRAKES Director Matt Reilly said. “I set up all the exercises on Friday and then do it that weekend.”
Those exercises, for teens and their parents, include a two-part crash avoidance and slalom course, a distraction course, a panic stop course, understanding big-rig blind spots and a car control and recovery course.
“Everything is down behind the wheel in a fleet of vehicles provided by Kia Motors,” Reilly said. “The instructors are all seasoned professional drivers. They could be racers, police officers, troopers, they may have done special training for secret service or a stuntman for movies and things like that. They all understand the limits of a vehicle and how to control a car in adverse conditions. We sit shotgun with the kids to tell them how to get kinks out and establish new, good habits.”
Reilly also asks local officers to talk about safe driving, flat tires on interstates and what to do and look for in a traffic stop.
“We talk to all the kids about the techniques we’re going to be teaching them, vehicle dynamics, how to deal with a skid,” he said. “When the kids start driving, we do a parent talk — I call it my Dr. Phil talk — encouraging parents to drive with their kids more and teach them to be more responsible. Sometimes these parents don’t understand they’re responsible financially if these kids make a mistake or hurt someone.”
Talk is a big part of the BRAKES ground school, which involves gathering parents and teens for a debrief to close the program, Reilly said.
“I ask the parents and teens to make a commit to each other, that if those teens are in a position they don’t feel like they can drive home safely, they can call their parents,” he said. “The parents won’t scream at them, get them out of that situation and the parents will pick them up and discuss it the next morning.”
At that point, participants receive a certificate that some insurance companies offer discounts for, having received instruction on many other aspects of driving with a 3:1 student-teacher ratio.
“I can take up to 36 kids in a class; they can bring one or both parents,” Reilly said. “I break down 36 into smaller groups, and the kids get more seat time, muscle memory and practice laps. It’s cool that we put parents behind the wheel, too, so they can get training. Many don’t realize how their driving behavior is a model for their kids. Parents also didn’t have all of the updated electronics and things we have today, so sometimes parents teach the wrong things, unfortunately.”
But BRAKES has been changing that, starting with 50 teens in 2008, when founder and drag racing star Doug Herbert’s young sons died in a crash, prompting his vow to create a program to prevent similar tragedy among more than 5,000 U.S. teens killed in wrecks each year.
Now, more than 15,000 teens have taken this course worth about $300, including 4,000 teens last year, thanks to participants informing others.
“We have operated the program in 10 states,” Reilly said. “We’re just a small non-profit that does this through donations and anything we can do. We don’t have a big time sponsor yet, but we’re working on it. Kia is our biggest sponsor, donating the vehicles.”
To participate, teens must be 15 or older, have 30 hours of driving experience, attend with at least one parent and provide a valid learner’s permit or driver’s license. A deposit of $99 is necessary to reserve a spot. Attending enables families to receive a full refund or leave the money as a donation.
“It’s good for everybody,” Reilly said. “It makes the whole community safer. We get letters from graduates that say they use our techniques every day to get out of trouble. That’s our big reward.”
WHEN: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1-5 p.m., March 14 and 15
WHERE: Manheim Orlando, 11801 W. Colonial Drive, Ocoee, FL 34761
COST: $99 refundable deposit
INFO: putonthebrakes.com or (704) 720-3806
Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].