What is Alive at 25?
Offered by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety and the South Dakota Safety Council the Alive at 25 Defensive Driving Course is a proven program designed to increase safe driving behavior in young adults aged 14-24.

It's a defensive driving/behavioral modification course developed by the National Safety Council and is designed to prevent the number one killer of young adults, automobile crashes. The course is 4 ½ hours long and it focuses on the behaviors and decision-making practices that young drivers and passengers display behind the wheel. Instructors hold candid conversations with students about what will happen if they choose to participate in risky behavior or other poor decision making activities while in an automobile (as a passenger or driver).

• No driving and no test
• Certificate of completion awarded
• Taught by professional traffic safety instructors, including South Dakota Highway Patrol Troopers

What will I learn?
Why do we need Alive at 25 in South Dakota?
Research on young drivers
Contact us for more information
STANDARD Class schedule/registration form
COURT-REFERRED Class schedule/registration form (for court-referred participants only)

• Are you a potential statistic? Helps young adults face the facts: young adults are more likely to be hurt or killed in a vehicle crash.
• Recognize the hazard! Learn to recognize unnecessary risks, identify driving hazards and combat them.
• Understand the defense. How to take control of the situation as the driver or passenger. How to avoid risky actions.
• Act correctly, in time! Explore instances where you or other young drivers have lost control, and how to take charge of your actions.

These behaviors and their implications are explored in-depth through a combination of subject discussions and interactive teaching tools including:

• Risk identification
• Interactive video participation
• Experience sharing with peers
• Role-playing in various driving situations
• Distraction/Impairment activities
• Driving law review - local and traffic

Why do we need Alive at 25 in South Dakota?
According to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety: Young drivers in South Dakota (14-24 years of age) represent 16.9% of total licensed drivers and yet they account for

• 36.7% of those drivers involved in drinking fatal and injury crashes and
• 49.3% of those drivers involved in speeding fatalities and injury crashes.
• Drivers under age 25 are involved in 30.4% of all South Dakota crashes.

Research shows the leading cause of young driver collisions involve one or a combination of the following factors:

• Lack of awareness of the consequences of risk-taking behavior
• Inexperience with complexities of driving
• Peers in vehicle with the youthful driver
• Driving as a social activity
• Speeding
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

The program was a pilot in the state of Colorado and since 1996, more than 100,000 young people have completed the Alive at 25 Course there. Out of those participants they have had 32 fatalities. The Program is working!

To schedule a class or register, or for more information, contact Diane Hall at 605-361-7785/800-952-5539; dhall@southdakotasafetycouncil.org.

Thanks to State Farm Insurance for its generous support of Alive at 25.

Thanks also to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, our partner in Alive at 25.