LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clear Lake office of the California Highway Patrol will offer a special class this month offering teens important knowledge on how to stay safe on the roads.

The free Start Smart traffic safety class for teenage drivers and their parents will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27 at the CHP office at Highway 29 and Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville. The class will run about two hours.

Traffic collisions are the No. 1 killer of teenagers in America. Nationally about 5,000 teens will die in automobile crashes, the CHP reported. About 10 percent of those deaths are in California alone.

In California in 2007, there were 82,506 collisions involving teenage drivers statewide, 457 resulted in fatalities, according to the CHP.

The Start Smart program aims to help future and newly-licensed teenage drivers learn the responsibilities that accompany the privilege of being a licensed driver.

The CHP said the program is an education tool for parents and teens to reduce the number of teen injuries and deaths resulting from traffic collisions.

The program provides information on defensive driving, state traffic laws, dynamics of traffic collisions, tips on avoiding collisions and awareness about driving under the influence.

Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Steven Tanguay at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.

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