The Tire Rack Street Survival teen safe-driving program held its biennial Summit Meeting on January 25, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada following the Annual Convention of the Sports Car Club of America in the same location.
Tire Rack Street Survival is the preeminent teen safe driving program thanks to organizations that include the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA), the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), the Porsche Club of America (PCA), the BMW Car Club of Canada (BMW CCC), the National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC), the Audi Club of North America (ACNA), and the program’s national sponsors: the Tire Rack, Michelin, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and BMW of North America.
The Tire Rack Street Survival program concluded a successful year in 2015, during which the program hosted 100 teen driving safety schools. It was the third consecutive year in which at least 100 schools were conducted.
To prepare for Street Survival in 2016 and beyond, and to capture the best practices from as many hosting organizations as possible, the BMW Car Club of America Foundation and the Sports Car Club of America Foundation hosted the third biennial Tire Rack Street Survival Summit Meeting for both experienced and new Street Survival school organizers.
More than 60 Street Survival organizers, registrars, coaches, and volunteers convened at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas as the Summit was introduced by Bruce Smith of the BMW Car Club of America Foundation and Raleigh Boreen of the Sports Car Club of America Foundation.
Johnny Valencia, Community and Influencer Manager for Michelin, which helped sponsor the 2016 Street Survival Summit, welcomed the group with a message describing how strongly Michelin believes in the program and its lifesaving potential for teen drivers.
The Summit then proceeded with a series of presentations designed to generate discussions of best practices developed by the many organizations that routinely hosted Street Survival schools.
• Jaynee Beechuk of the BMW Car Club of America’s Buckeye Chapter discussed the financial aspects of Street Survival schools, including budgeting, available funding, soliciting local sponsorship, and managing fiscal outlays.
• Sherri Savage from the SCCA’s San Diego Region discussed the critical requirements of marketing the program to teen drivers and even more importantly, to their parents. Todd Cameron, also from the SCCA’s San Diego Region, laid out his region’s program for accommodating large classes for schools with sufficient real estate and coaches.
• BMW CCA Foundation’s Street Survival Program Manager Tim Beechuk provided pointers on finding adequate venues with a large area for exercises, a good classroom, lunch area and amenities, and recommended techniques for approaching facility owners and then organizing the venue to support smooth transitions between exercises and between the driving and classroom sessions.
• During lunch, Street Survival National Director Bill Wade from the BMW CCA Foundation announced the honorees selected for the 2015 Tire Rack Street Survival Circle of Excellence. He was followed by keynote speaker Ross Bentley, internationally acclaimed racecar driver, motorsports coach, best-selling author, and motivational speaker who also developed the Street Survival classroom curriculum. Mr. Bentley’s keynote focused on how all the people dedicated to Street Survival could work to achieve the program’s 2016 goal of hosting 130 Tire Rack Street Survival schools nationwide.
• After lunch, Bill Wade discussed the fundamentals of a successful Street Survival day. Bill then delivered a presentation prepared by the BMW CCA’s Chris Hennecy on advertising and promoting the program using social media. Unfortunately, the big eastern snowstorm prevented Chris from giving his presentation in person.
• Scott Dobler from the SCCA Foundation discussed selecting the proper driving exercises, laying them out safely, handling student errors, and the choices school hosts have for equipment and materials to make the driving exercises more effective.
• Arnie Coleman, SCCA National Board member, presented considerations on coaches’ qualifications, recruiting, selection, and training. He also presented suggestions for taking care of the volunteers throughout the day so that they may better take care of the students and their parents.
• Bill Wade returned to the podium to present the Tire Rack Street Survival goals for 2016 and led a discussion on how best to accomplish them. Bill, Bruce Smith, and Raleigh Boreen followed with closing remarks and sent the Summit participants off with the thanks of the host organizations for their work through the years and for the accomplishments they will achieve in 2016.
Individuals who wish to become involved in Street Survival should contact their local chapters or regions to find out how they can become instructors or to volunteer at local Tire Rack Street Survival schools. Those interested in helping to organize a Street Survival school in their local area should contact the Street Survival office at (864) 438-2060 or e-mail National Program Director Bill Wade at bill.wade@streetsurvival.org.
A video of all the presentations will be produced in the next few weeks and made available on the Street Survival web site so that those Street Survival organizers who could not attend may review the day's materials. Potential school organizers and volunteers may also wish to view the presentations. They should periodically check the http://www.streetsurvival.org to determine when the video is posted.
The Tire Rack Street Survival program teaches teen drivers the skills they may need to avoid accidents, handle emergencies, and survive the hazards of driving during a particularly vulnerable period in their driving lives. Since the BMW Car Club of America Foundation created the program in 2002, more than 820 Street Survival schools have been conducted and over 19,600 students have received instruction in Street Survival’s potentially life-saving driving skills.—Scott Blazey
