CLINTON — They are scary statistics: In the first year after getting a driver’s license, 50 percent of new drivers will be involved in a car crash.

Some teens will be hurt; some will walk away.

But others will die.

That’s what happened to Paul Burris’ only child, his son, Paul. He died in a single-vehicle crash at the age of 17 in 1992, leaving the family devastated.

It left Paul searching for the reasons why his son died, what led to the crash, and how to prevent it from happening to other families.

He met with law enforcement officers, traffic accident investigators and reconstructionists, and studied the physics behind crashes. He traveled to schools to talk to students about the results of a crash, bringing one survivor with him to talk about his injuries, and how the loss of control of a car led to a fiery crash and the amputation of both  legs as a result.

All of his work morphed into what would later become the Click It or Ticket campaign and the collision avoidance training  offered through his National Traffic Safety Academy.

On Friday, Burris, whose academy is headquartered in Florida, visited my office with former Clinton Police Capt. Lester Shields, who taught his granddaughter to use advanced driving techniques when behind the wheel, and while surfing the Internet learned about Burris’ work.

Shields earlier this year decided that he was going to bring Burris’ driving course to Clinton and the surrounding area to teach new drivers how to react correctly when on the road.

On Friday, training began for six students, the first class that will be trained in collision avoidance techniques, and with off-duty police officers hired to teach the courses working with students for the first time.

Listening to Burris — who was in town as the local program gets its first run through — talk about the need for such training is persuasive, especially when he points out that parents are not qualified to teach their child to drive.

He points out that kids as they grow up sit in the back seat watching their parents’ bad driving habits and those habits are passed along.

Also, he said newer techniques, which parents weren’t taught years ago in driver’s education training and which he says aren’t being taught today, should be shown to new drivers to make them better behind the wheel.

Discussions about speed, how to shuffle turn, and how to properly work the gas and brake can make a difference between life or death situations, he said.

The talk hit home with me. I have a 20-year-old who has had his driver’s license for four years, and honestly, I get nervous every time he leaves the driveway.

I am even more nervous learning that it takes six to seven years for a new driver to become a safe driver... and that doesn’t matter if you are 16 or 36 when you first get your license.

It’s all about ingraining good technique into your driving habits... to develop the muscle memory to carry out what has to be done and to react properly.

Again, I am impressed with what Paul has to say about the program, and for Lester’s enthusiasm to bring it here and offer it to students whose schools are located in the area served by the Gateway Area Police Administrators, which includes schools in Clinton County and Fulton, Ill.

Also, on a side note, Paul has a lot of positive things to say about the area, and is quick to point out that the local program is the only one that has operated as a nonprofit and did not require tax dollars to operate, with funding used to cover the costs of hiring off-duty police officers.

This is indicative of residents’ realization that this program doesn’t only improve the new driver’s skills — it also makes the roads safer for all of us who drive on them.

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To learn more about  Gateway Area Collision Avoidance Training, call Lester Shields at 242-3553.



This is Charlene Bielema’s weekly take on issues in the Clinton area. She is a Fulton, Ill., native and has been employed with the Clinton Herald since June 1995. She has been the Herald’s editor since 2002.