TeensAtThewheel.com is created and sponsored by AAA Insurance, the insurance division of AAA Arizona. AAA Arizona is an affiliate of the American Automobile Association (AAA). The membership Club provides automotive, insurance and auto travel services to nearly 800,000 Arizona members.  Every year, the Club responds to more than 450,000 calls for help from stranded motorists on Arizona roads and highways alone. Since its founding more than 80 years ago, AAA Arizona has been a leading advocate for the safety and security of all travelers across the state.

AAA’s Commitment to Traffic Safety

Since its founding in 1902 as the American Automotive Association, AAA has been an advocate for improving safety for all of those who use the transportation system. At the national level, AAA continually monitors and responds to federal and state legislative and regulatory measures that affect the traveling public.

AAA pioneered the concept of driver education in 1935. Today, the tradition lives on in two widely used texts: Responsible Driving and How to Drive. In 1997, AAA released a valuable resource for parents of new teen drivers called Teaching Your Teens to Drive: A Partnership for Survival.

Also in 1997, AAA launched an aggressive campaign to reduce teen crash deaths and injuries, pledging to:

• Raise the public’s awareness of the severity of the teen crash-problem.
  
  
• Establish Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) systems in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to give teens more time to develop safe driving practices.
  
  
• Improve the quality of driver education.

At this time, AAA Arizona’s pledge to improve teen driver safety began via a committed lobbying effort to strengthen the state’s GDL system.  Finally, in 2007, AAA spearheaded a coalition of more than 20+ agencies and organizations committed to the same cause.  The result was the successful passage of the Teenage Driver Safety Act, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Leff, Sen. Ron Gould and Rep. John McComish, and signed into law by Governor Napolitano in May.

• Began leading our peer-driven efforts, the Teen Advisory Board and Driven to Action.
  
  
• Sought and approved two third-party, novice training programs.
  
  
• Provided driver education tools and resources for purchase.
  
  
• Launched StartSmart, the email newsletter subscription delivered to parents and teens at key intervals during the driver training process.
  
  
• And of course, we launched Teensatthewheel.com as a clearinghouse to bring all of these resources, statistics, useful tools and links together in one place.

We will continue evolving this site, making it even more useful to teens and parents. If you have a comment or a suggestion on how to improve the site, email publicrelations@arizona.aaa.com