MoDOT renames youth leadership program TRACTION

The Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Highway Safety Division has renamed its Youth Traffic Safety Leadership Training program to Teens Taking Action to Prevent Traffic Crashes—or TRACTION.

The program was previously branded as TEAM SPIRIT.

“The program has been in existence for over 20 years. It will have a new look, but the traffic safety messages will remain the same,” says MoDOT’s director of highway safety Bill Whitfield.

MoDOT says traffic crashes are one of the top causes of death and serious injuries for teens in the state. The TRACTION program aims to “empower youth to take an active role in decrease unsafe driving habits.”

“TRACTION seeks to accomplish this mission by providing youth and their adult advisors with the motivation, information, skills and support necessary to develop a plan of action that addresses unsafe driving habits,” MoDOT says. “It also promotes safety belt usage through events and activities they implement within their schools and communities.”

The department will select roughly 100 students and 20 advisors to attend four training conferences, with more than 15 high school and college students acting as facilitators for school teams.

More details are available at MoTRACTION.com