• Know the Risks
    • Teen Driver Risks
      • Distracted Driving
      • Nighttime and Drowsy Driving
      • Speeding and Street Racing
      • Low Safety Belt Use
      • Impaired Driving
    • Teen Passenger Risks
      • Keep the Driver Distraction Free
      • Help Keep the Driver Alert and Awake at Night
      • Know Why Speeding is Dangerous and Reckless
      • Always Wear a Seat Belt
      • Steer Clear of Impaired Drivers
    • Respect the Rig Truck and Bus Safety
      • Big Rig Events
    • Rail Safety
    • Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety
    • External Links and Resources
  • Be Involved
    • Learn How to Start TDS
    • Sign Up Your School / Request Virtual Access
    • Event / Activity Form for All-Star Points
    • @TeensDriverSeat Takeover
    • Be a Teen Influencer
    • Apply to Be a Teen Advisory Board Member
    • Take the Pledge to Keep Our Drive Alive
    • Find Your Regional Representative
  • Take Action
    • Get Activity Ideas
    • Download Activity Items, Posters, and More
    • See and Share Videos
    • #BeTheChange with Tyson Dever
    • Find Speakers and Educators
    • Teens in the Driver Seat in Georgia
    • Teens in the Driver Seat in Colorado
  • Events & Contests
    • Events Calendar
    • All-Star Reward Program
      • Event / Activity Form for All-Star Points
      • TDS All-Stars Leaderboard
      • All-Stars Distractions Unit
      • All-Stars Nighttime Drowsy Driving Unit
      • All-Stars Speeding Unit
      • All-Stars Seat Belts Unit
      • All-Stars Share the Road Unit
      • All-Stars Impaired Unit
    • Big Rig Events
    • Driving the Message Contest
    • Extra Mile Senior Activity
    • Youth Transportation Safety Summit
    • Social Media Teen Influencer
    • SponStar Awards
      • Teacher Discounts
    • Teen Advisory Board
      • Teen Advisory Board Application
    • Track-A-Thon Contest
    • Zero Hero
  • You in the Driver Seat App
  • About Us
    • News
    • Contact Us
    • Where We Are and Your Regional Representative
    • Partners
    • Private Partnering Opportunities
    • Donate
    • History and Recognition
    • 20 Year Report Card
  • Login

Teens in the Driver Seat

A peer-to-peer safe driving program for your school.

Text iDrive to 1-888-825-1346 for TDS and safety text messages.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

October 17, 2017

A Letter from the Director 

The History of Teens in the Driver Seat®

Dear Friends,
This year, Teens in the Driver Seat celebrates its 15-year anniversary and will provide more than 350 schools with the opportunity to provide empowering, results-driven community service to help make roads safer across the United States. Our hope is to continue to leverage the influence peers have with each other to increase awareness of the primary teen driving risks and encourage safer driving behaviors.

Russell Henk and son
Russell Henk (left) stands with his son, Christian Henk, as they celebrate 15 years of the Teens in the Driver Seat program.

Before our program existed, I can still remember watching news coverage of numerous fatal teen car crashes in our community, then looking upon my own children (who were too young to drive at the time) and imagining how difficult it was for those parents to lose their child so prematurely. It was heart-breaking, gut wrenching and drove the young traffic engineer in me to action. After digging deeper into the data and realizing that car crashes were (and still are) the leading cause of injury and death for teens, I knew we had to do more. I also knew that “more of the same” solutions was not going to put a meaningful dent in this huge problem, so we set out to do something innovative as well – getting the students themselves integrally involved in the solution and giving this issue non-stop attention.

The past fifteen years have been focused on building the foundation of the program to promote community service, leadership, sustainability, creativity and impact, with teens right there in the driver seat with us as collaborators and contributors every step along the way.

In spite of many challenges through the years, we have been fortunate to establish partnerships with many local and national organizations over the past fifteen years. It is with great pleasure that I share an exciting new development (and partner) in our program’s progression. Thanks in great part to the Texas A&M Foundation, the Youth Transportation Safety Program at TTI now has 501(c)(3) designation. I invite you to learn more about the history of our program in this 15th Anniversary Report Card and to consider supporting our efforts so that we may continue to help make teens safer drivers and to reach their full potential.

Sincerely,

Russell Henk
Youth Transportation Safety Program Director

Download TDS 15 Year Report Card>

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Article by Gabriella Medina / News / 15 years, nonprofit, report card 3 Comments

Comments

  1. Chris B. says

    December 1, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    This was a great article! I agree with a lot of different points that you’ve made in here. Keep up the great work.

    Reply
  2. justin says

    December 1, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    Great article

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Teens in the Driver Seat® Releases 15-Year Report Card — Center for Transportation Safety says:
    October 18, 2017 at 9:59 am

    […] anniversary this week with the release of a 15-year report card. The report card also includes a letter from Russell Henk, director of the TDS […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More Ways for Teens to Be Involved

  • Teen Advisory Board
  • Extra Mile! Senior Activity
  • You in the Driver Seat Safe Driving App
  • Teen of the Month
  • Driving the Message Poster & Video Contest
  • Take the Pledge to Keep Our Drive Alive
  • Safe Driving Summit

Copyright © 2023 Texas A&M Transportation Institute

All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.
Comments, suggestions or queries? Contact Us!


Youth Transportation Safety Program
c/o Texas A&M Transportation Institute
1100 NW Loop 410, Ste 605, San Antonio, TX 78213-2255
Ph: (210) 979-9411
Fax: (210) 321-1299

TTI Logo

Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3135
Ph: (979) 845-9008
Fax: (979) 845-9848

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)