Michelin Grant Funds Teen Safety Initiative

Teen Safety
Only 16 states have tire safety info in driver’s education materials.

Tires = safety, but try telling your teen that.

Partner tire safety, teen driving and racing, and you just might get your teen’s attention.

Tire maker Michelin and FIA (short for Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), the motor sports governing body, have come together to create stronger teen awareness around tire safety. The two teamed to create a grant program that will award $100,000 to programs created by nonprofits focused on road safety, and the program hopes to generate ideas or programs that are scalable and measurable ways to advance teen safety learning.

Teen Safety
Tire maker Michelin and FIA have teamed to create a grant program that will award $100,000 to programs created by nonprofits focused on road safety.

Grant applications are open until February 15, 2015, and winners will be announced at the FIA Formula E Series electric vehicle races in Miami and Long Beach, California, this March and April. Pilot programs will start being developed in those markets with the announcements.

“Of the 2.2 million car accidents every year, 300,000 can be attributed to tire issues, including inflation,” said Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin North America.

And teen safety is particularly important; 5,000 teens lose their lives in car accidents each year.

Michelin wants to ensure that teens are aware of tire issues and its importance in safety. “There is a significant gap among teens today in understanding even the most basic tire safety information,” said Selleck.

Michelin and FIA came to this initiative in 2014 after collaborating on ways to create more sustainable mobility solutions and found that developments in racing technology can give consumers an advantage on the roads, too.

Organizations that wish to apply for the grant can start the process at www.beyondthedrivingtest.com

Scotty Reiss
Scotty Reiss

Journalist, entrepreneur and mom. Expertise includes new cars, family cars, 3-row SUVs, child passenger car seats and automotive careers and culture. A World Car Awards juror and member of the steering committee, Scotty likes to say the automotive business found her, rather than her finding it. But recognizing the opportunity to give voice to powerful female consumers and create a voice to match their spending power, her mission became to empower women as car buyers and owners. A career-long journalist, she has written for the New York Times, Town & Country, Adweek and co-authored the book Stew Leonard, My Story, a biography of the founder of the iconic grocery company Stew Leonard’s. Her love of cars started when her father insisted she learn to change the oil in her MG Midget, but now it mostly plays out in the many road trips taken with her family.

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