Teaching Roadway Safety
I recently attended the 57th Annual American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) Conference from July 14-17. ADTSEA is the professional association which represents traffic safety educators throughout the United States and abroad. The conference opened my eyes to an association that really cares about keeping our roadways safe.
According to their website, ADTSEA is a national advocate for quality traffic-safety education and creates and publishes policies and guidelines for the discipline. ADTSEA conducts conferences, workshops and seminars and provides consultative services. The organization also develops educational materials. In 1970, ADTSEA took over the management of the National Student Safety Program (NSSP) and has maintained it ever since.
U-Haul wrote the book on safe trailering- literally.
The majority of the conference attendees were driver-education teachers from the U.S. and Canada. It was great to be among hundreds of people who make a difference in everyone’s lives, not just the teenagers they instruct. The conference hosted world-class speakers, offered sessions that shared best practices and provided solutions to problems that educators are facing today.
The conference also included a trade show, bringing together companies and organizations that provide materials for driver-education instructors. U-Haul, which wrote the book on trailer safety, provided free curriculum materials for teachers. U-Haul has been offering trailer-safety curriculum material since the 1970s and many instructors have included the curriculum in their classes.
All of the “Safe Trailering” materials are available free of charge to public- and private-school driver-education instructors, and to student and parent groups. The following materials are available online:
The conference was sponsored by The National Road Safety Foundation, State Farm and U-Haul. One of the highlights of the conference was the U-Haul Safe-Trailering Rodeo. The Trailer Rodeo teamed up NSSP students attending the the conference. Each team hooked up a U-Haul trailer, loaded a trailer (distributing the weight 60% in the front half of the trailer and 40% on the back half) and backed up a trailer. Teams were evaluated on hooking up, loading and backing up. Prizes were given to the top three teams. I’m looking forward to attending again next year!
Did you learn about trailer safety in driver’s ed? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
