Sprint Nextel Joins Ford Motor Company Driving Skills for Life Summer Camp to Tell Teens: “Focus on Driving”

Sprint Nextel Joins Ford Motor Company Driving Skills for Life Summer Camp to Tell Teens: “Focus on Driving”

Drivers face many distractions when they get behind the wheel of a car, such as eating, drinking, applying makeup, adjusting the radio, and using a cell phone. But teen drivers are especially susceptible to the dangers of distracted driving. To help teens in the Detroit metropolitan area become aware of the importance of attentive driving, Sprint Nextel Corp.(NYSE: S) is introducing its “Focus on Driving” program during Ford Motor Company’s Driving Skills for Life Summer Camp, held at the Michigan Proving Ground in Romeo, Michigan on August 1, 2 and 3 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Created by Sprint Nextel in consultation with driver education teachers and high school students, Focus on Driving is a turn-key classroom curriculum designed to educate teenagers about the importance of attentive driving at the earliest possible learning stage, before bad habits take hold. Student focus groups helped create a resource that speaks to teens in their own language, using real-world examples.

“Sprint Nextel strongly believes that attentive driving should always be the number one priority on the road,” said Glen Flowers, area vice president for Michigan at Sprint Nextel. “We’re excited about partnering with Ford to enhance their Driving Skills for Life program. It’s a great opportunity to educate teen drivers in Michigan. The Sprint Nextel Focus on Driving program also serves as a reminder to everyone on the roads and highways of the importance focus plays in safe driving. We can all do our part to reduce accidents and save lives.”

Focus on Driving, which was introduced in 2003 as a pilot in the Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida, is a 50-minute turn-key program available free of charge to driver education teachers across Michigan as well as Florida, Arizona, California, Virginia and Washington state. Expansion of the program will continue on a state-by-state basis and will seek to reach drivers at the earliest possible learning stage to promote a lifetime of safe driving habits.

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