DATE:    10/01/96
CONTACT: Kim Alexander, (864) 656-3848
WRITER:  Susan Bedingfield, (864) 656-3875

4-H Highway Safety Program 
Cruises Into Public Schools

     CLEMSON -- "Cruisers," a 4-H program designed to help young
people become more responsible -- not only as drivers, but also
as passengers -- will kick off this fall in South Carolina public
high schools. 
     "Cruisers will target drivers, pedestrians and passengers to
help reduce traffic injuries and deaths among the state's youth,"
said Kim Alexander, Clemson Extension associate and Family &
Youth Development youth specialist.
     More than 10,000 people age 20 and below were killed on U.S.
highways in 1994, according to the U.S. Department of
Transportation. In 1995, there were 165 deaths and 10,901
injuries among South Carolinians age 20 and below. The economic
loss to South Carolina due to highway fatalities and their
consequences was more than $2 million in 1995.
     "The Cruisers program has been developed to work with
existing school programs, community groups and 4-H Clubs to focus
not only on improving driving skills, but also on teaching more
effective life skills for passengers and pedestrians," Alexander
said.
     The program is funded by the South Carolina Department of
Public Safety's office of safety and grants. It is being piloted
this school year in six schools within four counties: Lakewood,
Crestwood and Sumter high schools in Sumter County; Strom
Thurmond High in Edgefield County; Gaffney High in Cherokee
County; and Cheraw High and Chesterfield High in Chesterfield
County.
     The program will expand to schools in five additional
counties in the spring of 1997.
     Alexander knows firsthand how involvement in a traffic
collision can change your life. At age 18, she received a spinal
cord injury in a crash that left her in a wheelchair.
     "These injuries and deaths to our young people are
preventable," she said. "By working with other concerned
individuals we can help young people stay alive and safe."
                              END