By Sean Ridgway, TME

In 2002, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) developed a program designed to address newly licensed teen drivers to help keep them from driving irresponsibly, according to Officer DC Williams of the CHP Fort Tejon station. The program is known as Start Smart and was designed to educate parents and teens on the current, relevant, and practical training in traffic safety laws and see driving behaviors, which the program states is “vital to reducing both fatal and injury crashes involving teen drivers in California.”

The program started in response to a crash in 2002 involving an unlicensed teen driver. The program is a two-hour-long driver education class for…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Above: Start Smart mobile app from the CHP

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This is part of the August 22, 2025 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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