The St. Joseph Police Department plans to host a driving program to educate parents on how to keep their teen drivers a little safer.

First Impact, a program to teach parents about Missouri’s Graduated Driver License law will be held Aug. 3 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Law Enforcement Center located at 501 Faraon St.  The program is free.  Sgt. Larry Stobbs with the department said it’s important for parents to know what the requirements entail.

“The parents of these new drivers can come down to the police department, they can understand what their kid needs to do and learn before they go out and get their driver’s permit and later go out and get their driver’s license,” Stobbs said. “They learn what the requirements are as far as how many passengers they can have with them, there’s certain conditions they can’t drive between, certain hours in the first six months of driving.”

According to First Impact, 41 percent of fatal teen crashes involved speeding or driving too fast for conditions. 93 percent of teens killed in Missouri traffic crashes were killed in vehicles driven by another teenager.  Stobbs said the course will offer parents resources to talk to their teens about staying safe behind the wheel.

“That way the kids feel like they know what the rules are and mom and dad also have something that says here’s what the rules are and hopefully it will make the kids do things in a safer manner when they’re out driving,” he said.

To register for the event CLICK HERE.