When Peer Pressure Is a Good Thing: Messaging, Behavior Modification and Young Driver Safety

TTI is approaching 25 years in researching and championing young driver safety through initiatives like the groundbreaking Teens in the Driver Seat program. Allan sits down with TTI's Lisa Minjares-Kyle and Stacey Tisdale, who lead the Institute's Youth Transportation Safety (YTS) Program, to talk about leveraging positive peer influence among teens to engender safer driving behaviors, as well as other proven strategies that have saved lives and prevented injuries. We look at the importance of brain development and decision making to the driving task, how private- and public-sector partners continue to support the YTS Program's efforts, and what new challenges young drivers might face in coming decades. | Discover more about TTI's Youth Transportation Safety Program

Transcript

Welcome and Why the Focus on Teen Driving Safety

Allan Rutter 0:15

Howdy everyone. Welcome to Thinking Transportation, conversations about how we get ourselves and the stuff we need from one place to another. I'm Allan Rutter with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Allan Rutter 0:28

Younger drivers face a lot of challenges today. Many are waiting longer to get their driver's licenses so that they have less time to develop on-the-road experience. The siren song of their smartphones can distract them, and they could be impaired by substances or from a lack of sleep. The good news is that research shows that equipped with good information on driving safety, teens can effectively communicate with each other, encouraging safer driver behavior. Today, we're going to be learning about how TTI is powering peer-to-peer teen driving safety education.

Allan Rutter 1:06

So, today I have the pleasure of talking with two of my TTI colleagues who specialize in youth transportation safety. I'm joined by Lisa Minjares-Kyle, who is Youth Transportation Safety Program Manager in TTI's Center for Transportation Safety; and by Stacey Tisdale, who is Assistant Program Manager with Lisa in the Youth Transportation Safety Program. Lisa and Stacey, welcome to Thinking Transportation.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 1:35

Excited to be hear.

Stacey Tisdale 1:35

Thank you for the invitation. This is great.

How Lisa and Stacey Got Here

Allan Rutter 1:40

So one of the very cool things about working at TTI is the chance to work with so many smart people with interesting backgrounds. Can you two explain how your journey brought you to transportation and to TTI?

Stacey Tisdale 1:55

Hey everyone, this is Stacey. So 15 years ago, I was in the private sector and looking for new opportunities. So I joined Teens in the Driver's Seat as, actually, a web developer. And as many listeners understand, projects that needed attention just kept popping up. So I always loved a great, you know, new project that I can really dive into. So one thing led to another, including more education, some certifications, and here I am.

Allan Rutter 2:23

So you came by the web version.

Stacey Tisdale 2:27

I did. And you know, I really don't work in that space anymore.

How Peer Learning Changes Behavior

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 2:33

Well, this is Lisa, and my journey is a little different. I started in the traffic safety space as an undergraduate under the Alcohol and Drug Education Center, and an expert worked there, and he fortunately gave me the opportunity to come with him to TTI when I graduated. And I'm glad I jumped on that opportunity because I really never left. I've been here ever since. I will say, though, that my mother was a bus driver and still is. And so transportation has always been near and dear to my heart. I did have to admit to her about five years into my professional career that she was right about pretty much everything. And that really hurt me to say that out loud. And now I'm officially recording this. But I really think the biggest piece that kept me here is that I discovered that I was a road safety nerd. And I love learning about all elements of road safety and then teaching it to others.

Allan Rutter 3:28

That is so cool. So now much of what you guys do in the Youth Transportation Safety Program, or here on out, I'm going to refer to this as YTS, is the kind of work you guys do in peer-to-peer training. Tell our listeners a little bit about what we know about the effect of peer-to-peer training in adult and youth environments, and then how the YTS program is designed to maximize the effectiveness of peer-to-peer training.

Stacey Tisdale 3:57

So you're right. We know that peer-to-peer is the most effective for youth, but we also focus on tools we are putting into the program and how these two things combined influence the third factor, which is driving behavior intentions. So naturally, teens turn to their friends for information, but when you put better information into the hands of those teens so they can help educate, this dynamic feels more equal and the messages really resonate. So it's been shown that peer-led learning often works even better than adult-led approaches and reflects an important developmental shift toward independence and connection. So this is a lot different than adults who are more passive recipients of peer influence, and it's really quite interesting within that stage of their life.

Stacey Tisdale 4:51

But our work is not only about peer-to-peer, Allan. We really want to make sure the resources we put into their hands are great teaching tools. They're fun, they're interactive, they're educational. This leads to better retention and likelihood. They will share what they learned with someone else, their peers, and even sometimes not their peers. So finally, program resources are also built on the theory of planned behavior, which Lisa really championed into the program. And just to give a real quick one-sentence explanation for those that may not be familiar, this theory originally advanced the idea that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control predicts the likelihood an individual will do something. But just to close this idea out, in later studies, which involved driving behaviors, it was found that moral constructs, habits, and emotional influences also impact these intentions. So in our world, you know, we can put all the materials we want to into the hands of teens, but we have to ask, will it result in changed behaviors? So the program in a nutshell is great free resources that influence placed into the hands of teens who learn to teach other teens and are then rewarded by the way of cash to their schools for doing it. This with a lot of data collections for analysis, we believe is the absolute best approach.

Allan Rutter 6:26

So go back to the intentions part, how equipping teens with better information drives them to have the attitude to behave better. Is that what's going on?

Stacey Tisdale 6:39

Right. So in the arena of teens talking to teens, which we know happens anyway, we want to make sure that the information the original teen gets and passes along to the other teen is something that will resonate with them on an individual level to actually change their behavior. So there's whole health education theories on this, and Lisa has that background and can probably talk to it more if you're interested. I think it's a whole other podcast, though, really, honestly. But yeah, we want to make sure that what we're giving out resonates enough on that individual level to change those behaviors, to impact those behaviors. So when they finally get behind the wheel, they make better decisions.

Proof the Program Reduces Risks

Allan Rutter 7:27

That makes a whole lot of sense.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 7:29

To add further to that, we recently underwent an outside program evaluation for our program effectiveness, and findings showed that students from high schools who participated in our TDS program, Teens in the Driver's Seat, engaged in less risky driving behaviors and find engaging in risky driving behavior less acceptable. This is the case for several behavior areas, which is really exciting for us. And these include less distracted driving, less marijuana-impaired driving, less driving after 10 p.m. without an adult in the car, and more passengers buckling up when they get in the car. This analysis looked at over 200 high schools over a period of two years, and we're excited to share these results and are looking forward to making these even better improvements down the line.

Allan Rutter 8:16

Well, that's impressive. I mean, one, to have the discipline of wanting to check up on how well are we doing. It's not about how many kids are we reaching, although we're talking about that in a little bit. It's about what difference is being made. And so it's pretty clear that you guys have real-time or near real-time feedback on the kinds of messages you're sending out are being heard and are being put into practice.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 8:41

Correct.

The Tragedy That Inspired the Program

Allan Rutter 8:42

So next year you guys are going to be celebrating your 25th year of the Youth Transportation Safety Program. Bring us back in time a little bit. Tell us how the program started, why transportation safety aimed at youth, and then a little bit about why San Antonio.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 9:01

Sure. So, like with many origin stories, ours starts with tragedy. 2001, the city of San Antonio lost 10 teens to car crashes in the span of six weeks. So, of course, understandably, the community was devastated, and everyone was looking for answers, pointing fingers, trying to understand how many young lives could have been lost so quickly. And unfortunately, the reality is it wasn't just local to San Antonio. Across the U.S., nearly 6,000 teens were dying every year in car crashes. To put that into perspective, that'd be the equivalent of a plane full of teens crashing every week for an entire year. So imagine this a plane full of dreams, futures, and families that are forever changed by this loss. So something had to be done. So in 2002, the TDS program launched with one simple purpose stop the needless loss of teen lives on our roads. And over the years, we've evolved and we've grown, but the why has never changed. It continues to drive what we do. It's what brings together our partners, our sponsors, and teens as we continue to work to solve this problem. And I will say that we're fortunate to report that these numbers have gone down drastically over the years. And that's in part due to advanced vehicle technologies, road improvements, and of course programming like ours that's helping to shift this in the right direction.

Allan Rutter 10:29

Yeah, it's a remarkable thing how, particularly for traffic safety and roadway fatalities, because they're discrete, they happen one at a time or two at a time, it doesn't attract the attention. And so 10 teens within the span of six weeks, that's the proximity and focus that gets everybody to go, hey, that's that's not a good thing.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 10:51

And I think that's what's so dangerous sometimes about traffic safety is that it's taken for granted. Everybody rides in a car, everybody drives a car. We see it every day. And oftentimes it can be viewed more as an inconvenience, right? You're commuting into work or you're commuting into school, and now you're delayed because of crash, and you're not really thinking about what's happening there, what's going on with those people. It's more of an inconvenience. So I think it's important for us to really remind ourselves these are real people, real lives being impacted by this.

Experience, Brain Development, and Risk

Allan Rutter 11:21

Both in terms of the impacts on people's families and as you explained, but also to help us understand the real risks associated with getting behind the wheel, which we tend to, because we've done it, sublimate that risk and not really appreciate what's really going on. When you guys have been studying youth transportation safety risk, so you know, how much of this is about the lack of experience or how much of it is about brain development and decision making, sort of the between 18 and 25-year-old. I mean, I think about myself as a 25-year-old. I was a real knucklehead until at 23 I got married, and at 25 we had a kid. It's like, it's time to be an adult now, Allan. Explain to our listeners a little bit about youth transportation safety and the youth part, experience and decision making.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 12:10

Yeah, so I think the biggest piece that we've recognized over the years with research is that driving and experience combined with any risk factor, whether that's distracted driving, speeding, et cetera, elevates a young driver's crash risk. As you think about anybody who is learning how to drive who has gone through that experience, they're learning a really big skill. And so whenever you're trying to practice that very complicated new skill, adding anything else can result in an increase almost 17 times in some instances.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 12:43

I think the other piece that you mentioned is yes, we know that youth development is currently in process. So their frontal lobe more specifically. And that part of your brain is really responsible for rational thinking, judgments, decision making. And so our youth, unfortunately, are at a slight disadvantage just because those parts of their brain aren't fully formed. And so we really want to recognize they're learning one of the most important life skills in a time where their brain is not fully capable of understanding all that information. So it's a big factor in what we do as well in a lot of our programming, our education, et cetera.

Allan Rutter 13:19

Yeah, it sounds like so much of the messages you're trying to communicate to these young people is about changing some of those risky behaviors, which make those outcomes that much more dangerous.

Stacey Tisdale 13:32

I would add that it's a very push- and- pull system. When you're looking at the whole thing, a lot of things have changed externally as well. Driver's education is a big one of those. You know, Texas has been on parent taught for years and years now. A lot of other states are going the same way. You know, driver's education is no longer in the school. And so we're really relying on parents to get behind the wheel or in the seat, you know, with their kids behind the wheel and spend hours and hours teaching them something they're not equipped to do or have the time to do, sometimes have the patience to do. And but we're relying on this system to put new drivers out on the road.

How TTI's Youth Transportation Safety Program Has Grown

Allan Rutter 14:17

All the more reason to have a targeted way of helping teens communicate better content so that they can make better choices. Let's talk a little bit about the reach of the Teens in the Driver's Seats program. How many states are currently involved and how many schools are participating?

Stacey Tisdale 14:37

We're thrilled that so far this year, we are working with over 620 schools, our largest number to date. These are mostly high schools, but we also work with middle schools, colleges, in some areas. These schools represent a student population of almost 900,000 just in this school year. And over the past year, so the past almost 25 years, we've worked with nearly 3,000 schools. Many of these have continued the program for many years.

Allan Rutter 15:09

Wow. 900,000 population. That's pretty impressive.

Stacey Tisdale 15:13

Yeah, these are in 32 of the 50 states.

Allan Rutter 15:16

Wow. Okay. 32 states, 620 schools with a population of 900,000 kids. That's--

Stacey Tisdale 15:23

Right. And we're not done.

Allan Rutter 15:30

Well, and in 25 years, that's a pretty impressive expansion of reach. Now, one of the things you guys have told me about is every November you host a Youth Transportation Summit in San Antonio. Tell us about this year's meeting. How did it compare to previous years?

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 15:43

Yeah, so the summit is really the biggest thing we do every year. It's our one dedicated day where we bring together schools, teachers, and students from across the country to focus on traffic safety in a really hands-on way. So it's grown a lot since we first launched in 2014. And back then, to provide some perspective, we had about 80 attendees from a little under 10 program schools. And last year, we hit our biggest summit ever with almost 400 attendees from over 35 schools. So that's more than a 120 percent jump from the previous year.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 16:22

So the growth is exciting and honestly a little scary, right? In the best possible ways, because it shows how much interest and momentum there is; but, a lot of students. At the core of what we do with the summit, we're really built around three pillars where we want to educate, we want them to focus on implementation, and we want them to collaborate. So the goal is to really support these schools in that space and ultimately give them resources to bring traffic safety back into their communities. So we work hard to make this event fun, of course, because we're targeting youth and teens, and we want to make it engaging. So we try to mix things up every year. We try to use different strategies, but most importantly, this event in particular is a great space for our youth leaders to step in and take charge. They help pick session topics, they choose the activities, they lead a lot of the sessions. So our goal is to really try to step back so that they can step in. The last thing I'll say on this is we're so lucky to have such incredible partners to help us do this. Some show up and share powerful stories, others run sessions for us, and of course, our sponsors, like Texas Department of Transportation, National Road Safety Foundation, General Motors, and State Farm, to name a few, really support us on this. And without that support, days like this wouldn't be possible.

Allan Rutter 17:42

Wow. So it's one single day, 400 attendees. The energy in that room has got to be something.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 17:48

Oh, yes. It's a sight to see.

Allan Rutter 17:51

And the three things you were talking about educate, help people, take that back and do something with it, and then help each other collaborate and learn from each other. There's got to be some real synergy that happens with these guys who have been doing this at their school, show up in many times being on a plane or traveling for the first time, and then being in a big room and going, oh, it's not just me. There's all kinds of people doing this.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 18:18

Yes. And I think that's what's some of the favorite things that we love to see. We have advisors, we call them our teacher advisors, that have been doing the program for years. And then we have some that show up and they're like, "This is the first time, I don't know what I'm doing. Please help me." And so it's a beautiful thing to see them connect with more experienced advisors. You have teens that we had a teen recently who that was the first time he'd ever been on a plane. That was the first time he'd ever left his city. And he was just so ecstatic and enamored with the whole experience. And then he was connecting with other teens who had been like, oh yeah, this is my third summit. This is so fun. Let me show you the ropes. It was just such great synergy. And I think what's beautiful is when we build a network and allow for that collaboration to happen, we make everything that we do stronger because all of us are in this together. And like, of course, an individual alone can't do it all. But together, we can go so much further and do so much more.

Stacey Tisdale 19:19

I'll also mention that same team that Lisa brought up. About a month later, they were all invited to go to New York City through the National Road Safety Foundation and do a presentation to the foundation founder. And he got to go on that trip as well. So he got to go cross- country, you know, with the help of our funders. So it was a fantastic experience and great to see.

Allan Rutter 19:46

Well, and it strikes me as taking advantage of one of the big things about going to a conference or going to some sort of meeting is the people you meet and what you get from the people you're with. It strikes me that one of the things you guys are building is in a relatively short time frame, you're really maximizing the kind of benefits and connections that these kids are going to be able to take back with them. That's pretty remarkable.

Stacey Tisdale 20:12

You also have to remember that pivotal point that we talked about earlier as being a teen. You know, you don't know what impact these experiences are going to have on these teens. And, you know, really the trajectory that it can change for their lives, just opening up a world and those leadership abilities and just knowing that there's things out there that you can do. I mean, giving teens these opportunities is really just paramount in this time.

Allan Rutter 20:41

Right. What you guys were describing of the teens being involved in preparing for content. I've been part of putting together conferences, and that in and of itself is a kind of thing. So the fact that they're being involved in how the meeting is being planned and how the meeting is being delivered, it is a remarkable way of conferring or at least communicating to these young guys that you're important. We want you to be involved. And you're right, Stacey, that can make a huge difference going forward. So this past November summit theme was building a safer future. Tell us a little bit about how you incorporated that theme into activities at the summit.

Stacey Tisdale 21:22

When you think about that building, it's hard not to think about building blocks, namely many people's favorite pastime of Legos. So our teen advisory board really ran with that idea and helped us build, quote unquote, a fantastic day. We had 11 sessions and we started off just to set the stage. We had a local art teacher who specializes in translating art projects into safety projects, do an activity with our participants that created a giant safety mural using paint and, of course, the Legos. The day featured lessons on ad. Advocacy, road safety, personal stories, advisor-specific training, team-led activities and gains, and of course, lots of prizes, food, food, food, and a lot of music that did not include any Willie Nelson, which all ultimately resulted in, you know, these attendees going back to nine states equipped with new skills, information, and connections towards building their own foundations of safety within their community.

Allan Rutter 22:30

The more I'm hearing about this thing, the more I want to be at one.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 22:34

You're invited. You're welcome to join us anytime.

State Farm Partnership and Expanding the Program

Allan Rutter 22:37

It sounds really, really cool. Now, Lisa, you talked about how State Farm has been a sponsor of the summit. How long have they been involved with the YTS program? And I understand they've recently expanded the scale of their sponsorship. What does that deeper relationship mean for expanding our reach?

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 22:59

Yeah, we've been fortunate that State Farm has been a partner for almost 20 of our 25 years in existence. And so this year, with their generous partnership, we're working with a record number of states to expand programming into high schools. The states that we're expanding work into include Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin, which were those existing partnerships. And then the new states now include Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee. What this really means for us is that the funding allows us to better support high school traffic safety programming in these areas, grow programming, of course, for those that do not have existing programs, provide resources, leadership opportunities, and of course, bringing those youth to San Antonio for our summit. Overall, they've been our longest standing private sector sponsor. And we're really grateful for that partnership and their continued belief in our program.

New Challenges for the Next 25 Years

Allan Rutter 23:55

That's spectacular. Now, as the program approaches its 25th year-- I think I've said that now five or six times--what are the prospects for the program as a whole? I think both of you have talked about momentum that you're feeling or sensing. What does that look like? And how is that really showing up or manifesting in practical terms for your team?

Stacey Tisdale 24:19

As we mentioned with the recent evaluation, this has really been an exciting time for a team that works so hard to bring this best practice program to schools. We're always looking for ways to build value for those we serve, and we'll always continue to do that for as long as we can. We know that tapping into helping young drivers learn and engage in this time of their lives is an important part of the safe system approach, and we are here for it. We know our great partners at State Farm, and really all of our funders feel the same way, and we do appreciate that camaraderie and that partnership with them. We feel like we also need to give a shout out to the program schools and the advisors in the schools. They are just the best and work so hard day in, day out, just to make sure their students are connected to opportunities like TDS. They're not appreciated enough. So if you have a teacher in your life, give them some love, give them some love from us.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 25:18

Yeah. And I'll add that, you know, thinking down the line 25 more years, ideally we would have worked ourselves out of a job because the roads are safer and cars are safer and we're not needed, but realistically, that's unlikely. So we want to aim to expand our portfolio of programming, recognizing that there are several community partners outside of schools that can benefit from what we do. We're also diving more into being a resource for other traffic safety advocates regarding data on what teens feel, believe, and self-report on their safe behaviors. What are these trends that we're seeing, and how can we change them? Because we recognize that we can't be everywhere and do everything. Our work can still be a significant asset to others, though, who are looking to make meaningful changes within their communities in this space. And lastly, my hope is that our program will continue to evolve to meet the needs of youth of tomorrow, factoring in concepts like micromobility, which basically is e-bikes, scooters, et cetera. Advanced vehicle technologies, as we know, cars are getting safer, but the technology's a little bit complicated. So, what does that mean for our young team drivers learning to drive in these vehicles? And of course, Stacey mentioned the safe system approach, which essentially takes a more proactive look at safety. So this will mean ultimately that our road systems are going to change. So, what does that look like for our youth of tomorrow? Ultimately, we know that our program has evolved significantly over the past 20 years, and I don't see that changing in the near future.

What Keeps The Team Motivated

Allan Rutter 26:53

All of which sounds pretty exciting, both in terms of what you guys have described as the geographic reach of the program, the fact that you guys are thinking about different kinds of partners who also have capabilities of reaching out to teens and or the desire to do so. It sounds like there are some real interesting opportunities for engaging different kinds of partners on the local level that have the ability that are around those kids, that are interested in taking advantage of the relationship or proximity that they have to be part of this education process. So I can tell from our conversation today that you have plenty of passion for making transportation better for travelers, providers for these kids. What are some other reasons that motivate you to do what you do each day?

Stacey Tisdale 27:43

I'll start. For me, it's actually the unknown. By unknown, I mean we do this fantastic work and send it out into the world, not always knowing who it's going to reach or what is going on in a person's life. And the thought of a new teen driver learning something or thinking about actions due to an activity that they participated in maybe that day, maybe the week before, and then making the decision to buckle up or not take a risk is what really keeps me going. I love the unknowns, the ones that don't show up in the data. I think that those are the ones that I'm really aiming for.

Allan Rutter 28:22

Excellent.

Final Takeaways and Listener Request

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 28:23

Yeah. And for me, it's a little bit more of a personal mission, not only as a mother of two, but as a daughter who knows what it's like to lose a parent to a car crash. I think if one thing I do helps another to never experience that, to me, it's a mission worth investing in. I'm also passionate because our program is helping to change the future of road safety by advocating youth to be those change agents. Much like seatbelts or smoking, our goal is to create a culture where safe behaviors are valued and prioritized and unsafe behaviors aren't. So by doing this, I know in my heart, I'm helping to create a safer environment for my children and my family. And that means the world to me.

Allan Rutter 29:05

Well, that's a powerful thing for both of you. Not that I would have expected anything less. I really appreciate both of you taking time today to join us and help our listeners understand the really exciting work that's being done across the country, making driving experiences over a lifetime start on a good footing. So really appreciate you guys joining us today.

Stacey Tisdale 29:28

Anytime. We appreciate you so much. We will talk about the programming all day long.

Lisa Minjares-Kyle 29:33

Thank you for having us.

Allan Rutter 29:37

I am so impressed by the growing impact and reach of the team driver safety programs that Lisa, Stacey, and their program are delivering. I can't wait to hear about their plans for the program's 25th anniversary celebrations this coming fall. Thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard or learned something, please take just a minute to give us a review, subscribe, and share this episode. I invite you to join us next time for another conversation about getting ourselves and the stuff we need from point A to point B. Thinking Transportation is a production of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, a member of The Texas A&M University System. The show is edited and produced by Chris Pourteau. I'm your host, Allan Rutter. Thanks again for joining us. We'll see you next time.