Michelin, ADTSEA publish national tire safety curriculum

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Oct. 21, 2015) — Michelin North America Inc. and the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) have published the first national tire-safety training module for driving instructors.

The goal of the national awareness program is to reduce preventable crashes among teen drivers. The update, according to Michelin and the ADTSEA, standardizes tire-safety education materials and provides a collection of new resources, including videos and hands-on exercises for instructors and students. The module will be incorporated into the ADTSEA 3.0 Driver Education Curriculum and will be made available for free download on the ADTSEA website.

In advance of National Teen Driver Safety Week, Michelin and ADTSEA delivered the new tire-safety module in Miami Oct. 17 at a free workshop for Florida driving instructors at the Marriott Miami Airport Conference Center. Michelin said a local tire professional from American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc. (ATD) supported instruction by providing outdoor tire-safety demonstrations.

“Michelin and ADTSEA have worked closely to create a new educational course that directly addresses the critical issue of tire safety for new drivers,” said Sheryl Wilkerson, vice president of federal government relations for the tire maker. “Michelin is committed to reducing the number of preventable crashes involving teen drivers by providing simple tire-safety education tools and tactics that can help save lives.”

ADTSEA is the professional association representing traffic-safety educators throughout the U.S. and abroad. In March of this year the organization received a $100,000 Teen Road Safety Grant from Michelin and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for world motor sports.

Michelin and the FIA are calling for all 50 states to include consistent tire-safety information — about the importance of checking tire pressure and tread depth every month — in their official drivers' education materials by 2020, as part of Michelin's ongoing Beyond the Driving Test campaign.

The latest curriculum update for tire safety will be adopted by the six states that currently use the ADTSEA 3.0 for their states' driver education curricula — Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina and Virginia. Additional states that use the ADTSEA program in addition to other curricula include Minnesota, Wisconsin and Utah.

“The new module is designed to equip driving instructors across the U.S. with an improved understanding of tire safety and new instructional resources to deliver this critical message to new drivers,” said Allen Robinson, CEO of the ADTSEA. “Thanks to Michelin, we provided this valuable training material in Miami at no cost to Florida instructors on Oct. 17 while rolling it out across the nation in the coming weeks.”

Michelin and ADTSEA said they will continue the initiative by delivering an additional free workshop in Long Beach, Calif., in April 2016. The tire safety module is available for member state driving instructors on the ADTSEA's website.

The association and Michelin cityed statistics that automobile crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens in America. Of the 2.2 million vehicle crashes taking place annually, 12 percent involve inexperienced drivers and tire-related issues such as insufficient tread depth or improper tire inflation.

Teen drivers often lack the essential knowledge and skills that can help keep them safe on the roads, according to a recent survey commissioned by Michelin and the FIA. This knowledge gap contributes to nearly 300,000 preventable car crashes involving inexperienced drivers each year.

Michelin and the FIA are making new resources available to help teens and parents brush up on their own car and tire maintenance skills, including a downloadable Glove Box Guide with important tips and this series of YouTube videos featuring popular teens.

To access additional educational resources, including Michelin's newest tire safety and maintenance videos, visit the tire maker's website.