- LIFE BEHIND THE WHEEL premieres Saturday, March 3 at 8am e/p on Discovery Channel in partnership with Discovery Education
- Special produced with support from Toyota
Silver Spring, Md. – February 24, 2012 – New drivers, older drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike, we are all precious cargo – and the stakes are high at any age when you get behind the wheel.
Now, Discovery Channel and Discovery Education, in partnership with Toyota, present LIFE BEHIND THE WHEEL, airing Saturday, March 3 at 8am e/p, a comprehensive look at safe driving habits from generation to generation. An encore presentation airs on Saturday, May 5, 2012.
Today’s driving statistics are staggering:
- 70% of all child car seats in the U.S. are improperly installed.
- Vehicle crashes are the single greatest cause of death for teenagers.
- A driver is 8 – 23 times more likely to crash if texting while driving.
- Fatality rates per mile driven for 75-79 year olds are more than four times as high as those for 30-59 year olds.
Across the nation, hospitals, universities and corporations are partnering with one another to tackle these critical issues and decrease fatalities. From Toyota’s innovative “Buckle Up for Life” community outreach program with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital educating parents on proper car seat installation to new technology allowing parents to monitor and track their teen’s driving habits and MIT’s groundbreaking empathy suit designed to teach us all about the challenges faced by older drivers on the road, LIFE BEHIND THE WHEEL showcases a broad range of driver education and attempts to offer real solutions.
“At Toyota, safety is a priority in everything we do, we are focused on making sure drivers everywhere have the resources they need to keep their families, friends and loved ones safe and secure,” said Pat Pineda, Group Vice President, National Philanthropy, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. “Toyota’s partnership with Discovery Channel is significant and underscores our efforts to keep the roads safe for all.”
“We are proud to partner with Toyota for this important documentary. Safe driving is a life-long lesson. LIFE BEHIND THE WHEEL gives people of all ages critical information while highlighting important new strides in technology that are creating better drivers and saving lives along the way,” said John Whyte, MD, Chief Medical Expert for Discovery Channel.
LIFE BEHIND THE WHEEL is available for free download at discoverychannelpatiented.com or on iTunes. In addition, portions of the documentary will be available on ToyotaTeenDriver.com, a free, online program in partnership with Discovery Education designed to provide safety educational resources to schools, educators, parents and students.
LIFE BEHIND THE WHEEL is produced with support from Toyota.
