Story by Ann Houston-Wanger
Public Information Office
posted 8/20/99

Save Money-Save Lives
Motor Vehicle Accident Prevention Course Offered   

   State motorists can reduce their insurance costs - and perhaps save their own lives - by enrolling in a newly revised driving safety program available through Oklahoma's network of technology centers.
   And now's the time.
   More than 3 million U.S. citizens have perished in motor-vehicle accidents since the world's first automobile fatality recorded on August 17, 1896. According to statistics, most accidents occur in August, September and on Memorial Day.
   Cell phone use and road rage are two of the new curriculum additions to the updated Motor Vehicle Accident Prevention Course (MVAPC) originally developed in 1991.
   Both the original and updated versions were created through a cooperative partnership between Tri County Technology Center, Bartlesville and Mid-Del Technology Center, Midwest City, and the and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.
   More than 10,000 Oklahomans have been touched by the MVAPC since 1991. The program is aimed at business and industry, but is also available to individuals.
   Currently, instructors from across the state are being trained with newly developed MVAPC curriculum and updated statistics.

"Safety coordinators at the technology centers set up training programs with instructors who have been certified through MVAPC based upon local interest and need," said Mike Boon. Boon, Tri County campus director and former industry training specialist, is heading the course. He is one of the creators of the original program for Oklahoma in 1991."With this new curriculum, we have certified 38 instructors, representing 25 schools statewide."    The course training has affected driving safety at work and at home, impacting company and personal bottom lines. While driver's education provides one discount for drivers, MVAPC provides another financial discount.  "State law mandates insurance discounts be given to graduates," said Boon. "Students of the program need to check with their insurance agents to determine that amount."

Mike Boon

   This is also a way companies can care for their employees and save money.
   "People and equipment get hurt in motor vehicular accidents," Boon said. "This training cuts expenses resulting in time, property and equipment loss for the company and may reduce insurance costs, too. Each company needs to check with their insurance agent for any additional savings that might be possible."
   The program is created as a template with room to customize for industry/company needs, according to Jim Roblyer, safety coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.
 "It's (the training) snowballing," said Roblyer. "Industry provides this safety training to their employees and receive the insurance savings. The employee loves it so much that they want their teenager and spouse to go through the training, too."
   Wayne Peacock, MVAPC safety coordinator at Mid-Del, said that the eight-hour course is more than an accident prevention class.
   "It gets people in the right mindset," Peacock said. "On the second day, people talk about what they have seen on the road and how they can use what they have learned to prevent an accident."
   The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety endorses MVAPC curriculum that addresses motor vehicle accidents, determined as the No. 1 occupational killer, according to Roblyer.
   In a recent study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, (reported in the Daily Oklahoman) Oklahomans drive 11,944 miles per year. The average American drives 9,878. And Oklahoma ranks fifth in the nation in aggressive road deaths, which is a factor in 56 percent of fatal crashes.
The new version of the course addresses this and other factors contributing to vehicular accidents.
   "Our curriculum has been updated, along with new statistics that address cell phones, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, sleep deficit, road rage, weather, lights, driving beside large trucks and a multitude of road signs that are affecting how people drive," Boon said.
   For information on MVAPC in your area, call the industrial safety coordinator at your area technology center.

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