SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Georgetown Police Department is taking a proactive approach to teen driver safety with a new educational program aimed at reducing Kentucky's troubling teenage driving fatality statistics.
"A young person getting their license, this is their first taste really of freedom that they're getting," said Captain Lewis Crump.
The class focuses on teaching teens how traffic stops work.
"One of our main goals is for them to feel more comfortable around a police officer, and understand if they do get pulled over, they don't need to be nervous," said Sergeant Elliot Hutton, with the traffic unit. "We're just normal humans," said Sergeant Elliott Hutton, with the traffic unit.
"That way the young driver can be prepared," Crump said. "That anxiety is gone. They know exactly what the officer is gonna do. They know exactly what the officer is gonna ask for."
The program includes interactive demonstrations using beer goggles to simulate impaired driving conditions, showing teens firsthand how alcohol affects their abilities behind the wheel.
"What we can't replicate is how it's gonna affect your motor skills and your late delayed reaction. So they're only gonna get a taste of what it's like and it's gonna drastically show that they can't do what they think they can do," Crump said.
The program also heavily emphasizes the dangers of distracted driving.
"Definitely the texting and driving, you know, not being the distraction while you're driving, looking down at your phone, changing the radio, things like that," Crump said.
The initiative comes as teen driving fatalities remain a significant concern. In 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 72 people, ages 15 to 20, died while on the road in Kentucky.
"Anytime that anybody dies behind the wheel of a car it's bad," The Captain said. "We hope to curb those numbers and bring them drastically down with the classes like this."
The program also covers basic vehicle maintenance, encouraging teens to regularly check their headlights and taillights to avoid unnecessary traffic stops.
"That's some stuff that I would have liked to have known when I started driving," Crump said.
