BANGOR, Maine — According to the American Automobile Association, more than 40,000 people die in car crashes every year, and the rate of fatality is greater among teens.
As a result, the state of Maine is collaborating with industry experts and its public safety agencies to find mitigation strategies that can help the state lower fatal road incidences.
The Maine Driver Education Summit is one initiative the state is using to inform and enforce ways to keep Mainers safe on the roads.
On Tuesday, approximately 150 driving instructors attended the Driver Education Summit held at the Cross Insurance Center to learn from industry experts on ways they can incorporate technology for road safety driving practices.
Topics of discussion included new driver assistance systems, traditional driver safety instructions, issues involving cannabis use, visual acuity challenges, and wet weather driving techniques.
"The summit couldn’t be more timely," Pat Moody, director of Public Affairs for AAA of Northern New England, said.
"Every year in this country we see over 40,000 people dying in car crashes. We know that technology can help us," Moody explained. "We know that these features that are studied can help us avoid crashes, or reduce the severity of crashes if we are involved in them. But we need to know and understand how those systems work, and how to communicate them with the new drivers of today."
Advancing driver education in the state is just one way to communicate how technology works, to keep teens safer on the roads.
Organizers hope that a mix of new vehicle technology made available in modern vehicles and fully attentive drivers will make Maine roads safer, and that advancing driver education for instructors can help to inform and enforce ways to keep Mainers safe on the roads, especially teens.