On December 7, 2008, at their annual Holiday Party at Scotland Run Golf Club, the South Jersey Section of MBCA took the occasion to present the MBCA Educational Foundation with a check for $1,000.00. This amount was made possible by the generosity of the many sponsors and participants from several sections in the Tri-O-Rama-2008 national event held in late October at the newly opened NJ Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ.
Presenting the check to EF board member and Regional Director, Werner Fehlauer, is Lou Granato, Treasurer of the South Jersey Section.
The MBCA Educational Foundation would like to express our appreciation for this fabulous donation from the MBCA South Jersey Section and the Tri-O-Rama participants & sponsors.
State Farm recently analyzed its auto-accident-claims data from 2003 to 2007 and discovered that the number of claims for injury or collision damage involving drivers age 16 to 17 was 20% higher in October than in a typical month. Another reason to consider sending your teen driver to an organized driving program. It is especially important for new drivers, such as teens, to practice emergency maneuvers under controlled conditions. The Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday about the insurer’s findings for those interested: WSJ, Car Crashes Rise In October (Oct. 6, 2008).
Today’s “Daily Drive” from AutoWeek has an article by Kevin A. Wilson about driver safety and teens. You might find it interesting. Here’s the intro:
More than 90 percent of car crashes can be attributed to driver error, yet most of what we spend as a society on traffic safety goes into cars.
But what are we buying? Is it safety? When considering the problem that teen drivers are more likely to crash than experienced adults, we’re tempted to try to buy our way out of the worry. << Full article here >>
As you know the MBCA Educational Foundation is working with the Tire Rack Street Survival. Tire Rack Street Survival has been nominated for consideration for the American Express Members Project!
Whether a cardmember or not, everyone is invited to participate by commenting on and nominating their favorite projects online. You can help Street Survival secure much needed funding by spending just one painless minute at the Members Project website.
If we get enough support we could qualify for funding – the top project will receive $1.5 million, the second place project will receive $500,000, the third place project will receive $300,000 and two additional projects in the Top Five will receive $100,000 in funding.
Once the submission phase closes on August 19, American Express will work with an Advisory Panel of experts to review the projects and announce the Top 25 submissions on September 9. It’s up to Cardmembers to ultimately choose which projects American Express will fund. Cardmembers can make a collective difference by casting their vote, showing their support for their favorite projects, and narrowing down to the Top Five projects starting September 30.
The winning projects will be those with the most Cardmember votes, announced October 14.
This is the first round –please take action now and nominate Street Survival. You donot need to be an AmEx cardmember to nominate the project, but you will need to be one to vote should Street Survival make it to the top 25:
A generous automobile donation has been made to the MBCA Educational Foundation. The foundation will receive the proceeds from the sale of a classic Mercedes-Benz 1972 280SEL 4.5. The auction began on Sunday, July 6, 2008. Membership in MBCA is not required to bid.
Chuck Landenberger has published additional information on the MBCA Forum. The vehicle information can be viewed at eBay here: MBCA Education Foundation Automobile Auction (eBay Item #270251637883).
Again, all proceeds benefit the Mercedes-Benz Club of America Educational Foundation – good luck!
Its no secret. Teens are involved in automobile accidents at an alarming rate and the tragic loss of life is heart-wrenching, priceless. But the cost in dollars to society has a price according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and AAA. Earlier today (May 28, 2008), MSN published an article by Doug Newcomb that sheds light on their findings:
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group.
Ask any parent who has just added a kid to the family’s insurance policy and they’ll tell you how expensive it is to have a teen behind the wheel. But the overall cost of teen driving is as tragic as it is staggering. According to a recent report from AAA, car accidents involving drivers 15 to 17 cost society more than $34 billion in medical expenses, property damage and related costs in 2006.
This massive figure includes $9.8 billion related to fatal crashes, and double that amount ($20.5 billion), connected with non-fatal crashes, while property damage losses made up the remaining $4.1 billion. But there are, of course, more heartbreaking and incalculable losses behind these numbers….
According to an analysis conducted for AAA, in 2006 drivers ages 15 to 17 were involved in approximately 974,000 crashes that injured 406,427 people and killed 2,541.
Now that you are aware of the problem, are you ready to do something about it? The MBCA Educational Foundation is involved with the Tire Rack Street Survival program; a successful program designed to save lives – teen lives – through driving education. Get involved – save a life. Contact us here and we’ll help you get involved.
If you would prefer to make a financial contribution, that’s available also. Please use the donation button in the right sidebar, which will process your financial contribution to MBCA Educational Foundation (any amount, takes less than 5-minutes). However you may get involved, your contribution is appreciated.
