Media Advisory for April 23 press event

MEDIA ALERT:

Teens, Parents, Medical Groups and Business Leaders to Join Members of Congress to Push Enactment of Federal Law to Protect Teen Drivers in Every State.

Motor Vehicle Crashes the Number #1 Killer of Teens – More than 80,000 Deaths over 10 Years Involved Teen Drivers.

Free live satellite feed and webcast to carry congressional STANDUP Act and Saferoads4teens campaign kickoff news announcement.

Jacqueline Gillan, Vice President of Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety
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Representative Tim Bishop (D-1-NY)
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Representative Michael Castle (R-1-DE)
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Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-8-MD)
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Captain Tom Didone, Montgovery County (Maryland) Police Department
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Natalie Hayford
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Joseph Wright, MD
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Sherry Chapman
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Allstate
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State Farm
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Judith Lee Stone, President of Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety
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Question and Answer
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WHAT: NEWS CONFERENCE – Marking the start of the high school prom season, members of Congress, parents, pediatricians, police, and safety advocates will announce introduction of the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act and launch the Saferoads4teens Coalition to back passage of this congressional effort to urge all states to swiftly enact model Graduated Drivers Licensing laws for newly-licensed teen drivers.

WHEN: Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 11:30 am EDT

WHERE: Corner of First Street and Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC – west front of the U.S. Capitol building near the U.S. Botanic Gardens.

WHO: U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and U.S. Representatives Tim Bishop (D-1-NY), Michael Castle (R-1-DE) and Chris Van Hollen (D-8-MD), chief sponsors of the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act, which will accelerate adoption of model Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws for novice teen drivers in every state. (NOTE: Congressman Van Hollen new addition)

Captain Tom Didone, Montgomery County (Maryland) Police Department, whose teenaged son Ryan Didone was killed in a crash caused by a high school classmate on October 21, 2008. Captain Didone has devoted most of his career to teen driver safety education and enforcement programs. NOTE: The crashed car will be on display at the news conference.

Sherry Chapman (Hartford, CT) who cofounded Mourning Parents Act (!MPACT) after her teenaged son Ryan Ramirez was killed in a crash caused by a teen driver on December 7, 2002. Sherry is a member of the Connecticut Governor's Task Force on Teen Driving Safety and the Connecticut Teen Driving Safety Partnership.

Natalie Hayford (Andover, MN), Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), Anoka High School, Anoka, MN, who has won awards for her leadership on the teen driver safety issue.

Joseph Wright, MD, pediatric emergency medicine specialist and Senior Vice President of the Child Health Advocacy Institute at the Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

William Vainisi, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Allstate Insurance Company.

Judith Lee Stone and Jacqueline Gillan of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which will spearhead the new Saferoads4teens Coalition and its web-based grassroots campaign at www.saferoads4teens.org

VISUALS: Two cars severely damaged in crashes caused by novice teen drivers will be on display at the news conference, including the vehicle that Montgomery County Police Captain Didone’s son Ryan was riding in when he was fatally injured last October.

LIVE WEBCAST of news conference in real time at: click here to view the live webcast.

LIVE SATELLITE NEWSFEED of the news conference in real time (followed by b-roll) to be accessible with the following satellite coordinates – Satellite: Galaxy 28; Transponder: K17 Slot C; Downlink Frequency: 12044.5 V; Symbol Rate: 6.1113; FEC: ¾

ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT containing broadcast quality sound-bites and b-roll, fact sheets about the teen driving problem, the new federal STANDUP Act, the new Saferoads4teens Coalition, and more will be available the morning of the news announcement at www.saferoads4teens.org

B-ROLL FOOTAGE to be available at the news conference.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bill Bronrott, 202-270-4415 or Beth Weaver, 301-814-4088

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