6/6/2007
Wreckage to be tool in teen driving campaign

Wreckage to be tool in teen driving campaign

Crashed SUV is part of police effort to educate young drivers

By Jake Finch, Correspondent
Thursday, September 6, 2007

The young man who died two years ago in the single-vehicle crash outside of Moorpark probably didn't realize he'd leave a legacy warning other youths about the perils of reckless driving.

The mangled, tan Ford Explorer, now sitting entombed in a see-through trailer behind the Simi Valley Police Department, has become a monument to the dangers drivers face, and a tool for police to educate young people who take unnecessary risks.

"We're teaching our kids to drive and we're giving them a 3,000-pound bullet," said police Lt. Joe May. "We want them to be good drivers."

As part of STTOP, the Sheriff's Teen Traffic Offender Program, the wrecked SUV will be used with educational videos to teach young drivers about the need to drive carefully.

Started seven years ago by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the program is spreading throughout Southern California as yet another tool police can use to redirect irresponsible teen drivers.

"One thing it's going to do is provide a visual awareness through the STTOP trailer itself ... about the impact of unsafe driving, distracted driving or any of those things that can cause an accident," May said. "What we also hope the program will do is provide input to us ... on who the unsafe drivers are."

Police take the STTOP trailer to schools, youth organizations and public events to educate large groups of young people. Parents can also have their children visit the trailer for a short but impressive tour on the effects of unsafe driving.

People also have the ability to report unsafe drivers to the Simi Valley Police through an anonymous toll-free hotline. Police may then choose to send a letter to the vehicle's registered owner and offer the STTOP trailer's experience if the driver is a teen.

"This is a way for parents to know not to be nave in this situation," said police Sgt. Dave Livingstone. "It's also a way for us to have a positive effect."

Traffic Officer Dan Hampton requested the program for the department. The Simi Valley Police Foundation took up the cause and partly funded the $25,000 needed to get it.

The foundation then enlisted the support of 10 Simi Valley community groups, including the Simi Valley Education Foundation, three Simi Valley Rotary Clubs, Swink's Simi Valley Towing, Farmer's Insurance and other companies to pay for the program, said Dave McCormick, past president of the foundation.

Dave's Towing Services reserved the SUV for the program when the foundation was first approached two years ago about funding STTOP, McCormick said. Garrett Custom Trailers outfitted the trailer with clear walls and four flat-screen televisions — used for an educational video — at their expense.

"The business community helped to make a safer community by helping educate our young drivers," he said.

While May said it wouldn't be readily apparent what the program's effects would be on the city's young drivers, it would have some effect down the road.

"Hopefully, if you catch things on the front end, when the drivers are 22, they'll have a better thought process about things," May said. "If it has an impact on one person, it's successful."

- Jake Finch's e-mail address is alljake@hotmail.com.