LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office will offer in January a class to help teen drivers be safer on the roadways.

The Clear Lake Area California Highway Patrol will offer a free “Start Smart” traffic safety classes for teenage drivers and their parents.

The class will run approximately two hours and will be offered on Monday, Jan. 9, at 6:30 p.m. at the CHP office, located at 5700 Live Oak Dr., at the corner of Highway 29 and Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.

Traffic collisions are the No. 1 killer of teenagers in America.

Nationally about 5,000 teens will die in automobile crashes. About 10 percent of those deaths are in California alone.

In California in 2009, there were 61,029 collisions involving teenage drivers statewide, of which 346 resulted in fatalities, the CHP reported.

In Lake County during that time period, there were 41 injury or fatal crashes involving teen drivers, of which 34 of those teen drivers were ruled at fault, according to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System. Among those crashes, there was one fatality.

The Start Smart program aims to help future and newly-licensed teenage drivers learn the responsibilities that accompany the privilege of being a licensed driver.

The program is an educational tool for parents and teens to reduce the number of teen injuries and deaths resulting from traffic collisions.

It provides information on defensive driving, state traffic laws, dynamics of traffic collisions, tips on avoiding collisions and DUI awareness.

Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.

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