Local Epidemic of Young Driver Auto Deaths Reinforces Need for Education

Free Clinic Offers Young Women Safe Driving Strategies, Auto Care Basics

SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 3 -- The following is being issued by Safe Smart Women:

  WHAT:     Fatality data show that young drivers continue to be over-
            represented in fatal crashes.  In the Washington, DC area alone,
            more than a dozen young people have been killed on the roads in
            recent weeks.  In the ten-year span between 1992 and 2002, young
            women's fatal crash rates escalated by 42 percent at the same
            time that crash rates for young men declined.  To help educate
            and empower this vulnerable and oft-overlooked population, Safe
            Smart Women (S2W) is hosting a free CarCare Clinic open to all
            area young women and their parents.  The Clinic will offer
            hands-on opportunities to learn safe driving tactics and under-
            the-hood auto care from experts.

  AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW:
            Lizzie Nimmich -- Student Advisor, Safe Smart Women
            A.J. Willingham -- Student Advisor, Safe Smart Women
            Gordon Booth -- Chief Instructor, DriveTrain
            Kristin Backstrom -- Executive Director, Safe Smart Women

  WHEN:     Wednesday, November 3, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.
            The Clinic will commence with introductory remarks, and will be
            followed by hands-on training in the service bay led by six
            subject-matter experts.

  WHERE:    CarMax, 45210 Towlern Place, Sterling, VA
            Directions: Exit 9B (Rt. 28N) off Dulles Toll Road.  Location is
            3 miles north of Toll Road.

  ABOUT:    S2W educates young women on the basics of car maintenance
            and on strategies for safer driving.  S2W reaches young women
            drivers through its free CarCare Clinics and online at
            http://www.s2w.org/.