Las Vegas Valley teens are invited to participate in the daylong UNLV event that will offer an inside look at the often-deadly ramifications of distracted driving and driving under the influence.

UNLV will host the free, daylong event for teenage drivers July 26, 2022, in parking lot N on campus, behind Thomas and Mack Center. Teens must be registered to attend, and check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. and the program begins promptly at 8 a.m. The event will end at 4:30 pm.

To register for the event, complete the Teen Driver Safety Day Interest Form.

“Nationally, teens have a four times greater risk of being in a crash compared even to a 20-year-old driver,” said Erin Breen, director of the Road Equity Alliance Project. “Inexperience is a part of the issue, but bad decisions behind the wheel play the biggest role. Teen Driver Safety Day exposes young people to the ramifications of serious traffic crashes and brings the results right before their eyes and ears.” 

Teen Driver Safety Day is part of the 2022 National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI), presented by UNLV, as part of the federally funded summer transportation camp for Nevada high school students. The event will accommodate the first 75 students to sign up.  

The day begins with a crash reenactment. Clark County and Las Vegas Fire units will respond with heavy rescue equipment; and LVMPD, UNLV Police Services, and Clark County School District Police Services, along with Community Ambulance, will respond as if the staged crash were real, so teens can see what actually happens.

The remainder of the day’s activities will take place in the Classroom Building Complex Auditorium (CBC-A-112), where teen drivers will hear from a trauma surgeon as he “treats victims” of the mock-crash. Police will discuss the DUI arrest process, and LVMPD detectives who investigate fatal crashes will discuss their work and explain why math and science are crucial to their jobs. Then a staged trial, presided over by Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum, will be held, followed by a panel discussion of young people and mothers whose lives have been forever changed by a car crash. 

Please note that teens are required to stay for the entire day and will be supervised. All participants will go to the dining commons for lunch.

For more information, email Joanna Jezierska.