An advanced driver training program for teens is coming to Reno for the first time this weekend. It's called B.R.A.K.E.S., for Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe. It's a program that helps save lives - teaching teens and their parents safe, responsible driving.
A Reno mom who lost her son in a car crash two years ago has been advocating to bring the school to the Biggest Little City.
Sail Horton, a Reno native and fourth generation Nevadan, is mom to three boys.
Her middle son, Grig McCoy, was a standout athlete and friend to all.
"He was very active; he was everybody's best friend," she said. "He was a varsity baseball player at Galena High School and he was honestly the life of every party. Baseball was his sport. He also skied a lot, but baseball was his sport. And he went to every game for every sport; he was always there to cheer everyone on."
Two years ago, he died in a rollover car crash in southwest Reno. He was 16 years old.
"He was a young, inexperienced driver. He wasn't on drugs, he wasn't drunk, he was wearing a seatbelt, his cell phone was charging in his center console," Horton said. "He was just going too fast, which I think we've all done, and he lost control and that was that."
Horton spent a long time searching for answers.
"I felt like we had prepared him and done all the things you could, and then I started researching and I learned, terrifyingly, that the number one cause of death of teenagers is car crashes," she said. "I had no idea. I knew it was a risk, but I didn't know it was the most dangerous thing for your teenagers to be doing. We talk to our kids about drugs, about sex, all these safety issues. I spent thousands of dollars and years of my life teaching my kids how to swim. And then it's like, okay, you did a quick online class, you're good, let's get in this car and work it out."
That's when she reached out to drag racing champion Doug Herbert, who started the B.R.A.K.E.S driving school after losing his two sons in a car crash in 2008.
"I reached out to a few different schools, and Doug called me almost immediately to express his condolences and share our stories and say he'd love to do anything he can to help our community," Horton said. "It's bittersweet, but I am proud and I am optimistic that it will be a huge success and that B.R.A.K.E.S. will want to keep coming back to Reno and more families will stay safe."
More than 140,000 teenagers and their parents have been trained in the program over the past 16 years. A University of North Carolina at Charlotte study found that graduates of the school are 64% less likely to get in a crash within their first three years of driving.
"So if we have 180 kids come out this weekend and if the program comes back once or twice a year, that's a lot of lives saved," Horton said.
There are sessions on Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6. It's a free program; a registration fee is required to hold a spot, but refunded on arrival.
Horton has had the chance to take the training at a recent session in Southern California.
"It was incredible," she said. "I have been driving for 25 years and I still learned so much."
Now she hopes programs like this one will help spare other families from what she's lived with the past two years.
"I actually do a lot of volunteer work and I had been looking for a cause I was passionate about," she said. "And I kind of hate that this is what it has become, but I'm glad to be able to put my energy behind it and hopefully spare other families the type of tragedy that we've been facing. I know this community really came together for me and our family when we needed it the most, so I know I had to return the favor, to pay it forward."
Registration information: www.putonthebrakes.org
