A Weld County driving program seeks to reduce accidents and other problems among young drivers.
Weld County received a $10,000 DRIVE SMART grant from State Farm Insurance to educate teenagers about safe driving to reduce vehicle injuries and death, according to a news release on Feb. 2.
“DRIVE SMART Weld County has been working to keep Weld County teen drivers and passengers safe for more than 23 years. The teen program started in February 2001,” said program spokesperson Kristen Duus.
State Farm won the 2024 Good Neighbor Citizen Award this year for its dedication to contributing to the DRIVE SMART Program to save lives.
The Drive Smart Weld County is a nonprofit network of law enforcement, business, insurance, media, concerned citizens, schools, fire departments, and health professionals that pulled together to educate to reduce injuries and deaths from traffic crashes, according to officials.
According to officials, Weld County data has recorded the highest motor injuries and deaths in Colorado, so DRIVE SMART aims to reduce those numbers by educating students. DRIVE SMART safety program in 2022-23 school educated with more than 35,000 teenagers.
The $10,000 grant will distributed to the safety program led by students through the school year to develop and promote activities for safe driving. The funds are used to educate parents and teens in driver classes, driver’s license laws, insurance requirements, and available discounts.
Within the past two decades, the grant contributions from State Farm to DRIVE SMART Weld County have totaled over $175,000.
“This is not State Farm’s first year contributing; they’ve been participating with our program for years,” Duus said.
For more information on DRIVE SMART Weld County and its community programs, please visit www.drivesmartweldcounty.org or call (970) 400-2325.