App Designed to Reward Teens for Safe Driving

A number of schools and agencies in the Tri-Cities region and elsewhere have partnered with Teens in the Driver Seat to offer incentives for teens and young adults who follow the rules of the road.

Jennifer Dorsett is manager of the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission's Target Zero Program for Benton and Franklin County.

"Target Zero is our state's model for traffic crashes, we would like zero deaths in your household," Dorsett said. "We created a school-based program where we go into classrooms, and we deliver information about seat belts, distracted driving and DUI prevention."

An individual component of the Target Zero Program is Teens in the Driver Seat, an app that serves as an incentive for young drivers with good driving behavior.

The app does not track location or report information to insurance or police, but it does reward participants with gift cards for driving the speed limit and keeping their eyes off their phone.

"So as a first round when a teenager has 10 safe drives, they get $10. And then it goes up from there because we want that driving behavior to increase over time. So, at 25 drives you get another $10 at 50 drives, you get another $10 and so on." Dorsett said.

Furthermore, the app doesn't penalize the driver for doing the wrong thing.

"Let's say you drive and you didn't do a good job, you activated your phone while you were driving. Then the app will tell you what you did wrong at the end of your drive so that you can have better behavior next time. So it's just kind of a constant reminder to drive well." Dorsett added.

And if the driver does well, gift cards are doled out to the person's email address.

The app is available on the Google Play or App Stores.