How To Avoid Deadly Red Light Runners-like this one recently in Fresno, CA

FRIENDS SPEAK OUT AFTER WOMAN KILLED IN FRESNO CRASH

kelly

Kelly Phetxoumphone, 23, was a passenger in her friend’s car when another car slammed into them at Palm and Ashlan early Sunday, killing her. (KFSN)

Watch local news story here
In the article below you can see that the driver who killed this beautiful young lady ran a red light. A term often used by police is a “dead red” which means it has been red for a long time. Our Creating A 5 Star Driver video series has a lesson on avoiding this type of t-bone crash that is becoming all too common. The lesson is titled Traffic Checking at Green Lights Because People are Running the Reds. It is a valuable lesson filmed in the training car with students demonstrating when to traffic check at all intersections and how that can avoid this type of tragedy.

Kelly Phetxoumphone, 23, was a passenger in her friend’s car when another car slammed into them at Palm and Ashlan early Sunday, killing her.
A scene of colorful balloons, pictures and candles sit on the corner where a fun night with friends ended in sirens and Phetxoumphone never making it home.
Sreyjet Choun was driving right behind her sister-in-law and friend that night.
“It’s my spring break and I go to UC Irvine so we always hang out together,” Choun said. “She was like my sister and it was like the last words she said was come follow us.”
They were heading to a friends house when California Highway Patrol officers say 21-year-old Lawrence Walker III didn’t stop at the red light.
“I was calling 911 knowing that, I told myself, she’ll be fine, she’ll be fine but I know she wouldn’t because I saw what happened,” Choun said. “That guy, he didn’t brake at all, he didn’t swerve at all. He just went straight.”
Another longtime friend, says Kelly’s positive attitude and warm smile were her greatest traits. “I still can’t believe it,” Kelly’s friend Solida Lain said. “It feels so unreal. It still hurts, it’s really shocking, and tragic.”
Kelly worked to support her family at a local restaurant. Now, her boyfriend of eight years is left with four young kids to raise without her.

 

Driving the # 1 killer of teens? No it is now 18 – 20 year olds

killer-of-teensI had an interesting conversation with a 19 year old driving student recently. While I was looking at his permit he said that he was confused and then angry by what was said when the DMV personnel handed him his permit a few days earlier. The man asked my student if he was going to now take his drive test. He responded: “how can I do that I just received my permit to drive?” The answer was “well a lot of people do.” My student said “but how would a person know how to drive yet?” The DMV representative explained that people drive illegally with family members and then take their written test and try and pass the drive test the same day. To my 19 yr. old young drivers credit he told him “that is stupid and only because you folks allow it.” I agree, so true and so wrong in many ways.

This absurd practice for licensing young adult drivers would explain the rise in death by a few years due to driving. The Graduated Licensing Program instituted years ago by the Department of Transportation does not apply to anyone above 18 years old. Passing the permit test and then having to wait 6 months before taking the drive test does not apply. Having a minimum of 6 hours of behind the wheel training with a driving school does not apply. Putting in an additional 50 hours of driving practice with a licensed 25 years of age or older teacher does not apply. Then the 18, 19, 20, year old takes the Dumber Than a 5th Grader 10 minute drive test to be licensed to drive. This ignorant driver is now licensed to cut me off in traffic, tailgate me up to a red light, not yield to me while entering a roundabout and dent my car as they park next to me at the shopping mall or much much worse.

So much of what is wrong with the way things have become is due to the governmental agencies tasked with making things smart and safe doing just the opposite. Our motivation in producing the high quality 5 Star Driver videos is to push past the cheap driving schools and the D.M.V.,” Department of Mental Vacancy” to put parents in charge of their children’s driver training. Take the time with your kid’s over a sixth month training period, watch the videos together from start to finish. The accelerated learning curve is remarkable! People can listen to the video testimonials on our www.5stardriver.com website of 5 Star Driver users, parents and their kids, to hear real driving success stories. The ultimate goal being to have young adults break through the grim statistics when it comes to their early years of driving. So important at a time when driving has become a greater challenge than ever before.

Teaching Teenagers How To Drive

When it comes to teaching teenagers how to drive two things make it difficult. Hire a teenager while they still know everything. Yea teenagers and young adults can be know it alls. Parents are not always the best teachers. Here are fine examples of these situations from the Creating A 5 Star Driver video training program. This new driver gets distracted by the conversation and rolls her stop. And then is a bit pretentious about it. Following will be another clip of the same new driver who rolls her stop again. This time she realizes it and admits that that is what her parents do.

Clip 1

Instructor: Left turn here.

Student: IT’S ONE WAY!

Instructor: AMAZING! Do you see how you find these things? You caught it. Pat yourself on the back. Complete stop. stop.

Student: I did complete stop. …

Instructor: Okay. Okay. Are you safe? Because they don’t have stop signs.

Clip 2

Student: Thanks. The roads were a little windy I guess.

Instructor: And right turn. Which is good.

Student: Yea.

Instructor: Did you ever stop?

Student: Uh, no.

Instructor: So you just blew right on through it just like mom and dad right?

Student: Yea.