Teaching Your Teen to Drive?

BLOOMINGTON, Ill., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- State Farm today announced the release of an iPhone® and iPod® touch application to complement its successful Steer Clear® Safe Drivers Discount Program. The Steer Clear application gives young drivers a convenient way to complete the Steer Clear discount program, encourages supervised driver education and reinforces State Farm's commitment to preventing car crashes, which are the No. 1 killer of teens in the United States.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100225/CG60493)

State Farm's Steer Clear iPhone and iPod touch application is the first application of its kind to help teens gain more experience behind the wheel, building on State Farm's overarching goal to reduce teen driving deaths. The principles followed in the Steer Clear program align with those of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws.  These laws have proven to be effective at reducing teen car crashes in part by lengthening the time in which teens must drive while supervised and requiring practice in diverse driving conditions.

This new technology allows parents and teen drivers to take advantage of State Farm's Steer Clear car insurance discount, which requires teens under the age of 19 to complete 20 guided trips behind the wheel. The mobile application provides a user-friendly trip timer to log suggested practice outings.  The application will track practice time while the mobile device is safely turned off during the drive.

The Steer Clear iPhone and iPod touch application also includes driving tips, a safe driving pledge and informative videos. Successful completion of the program's requirements rewards participants with up to a 15 percent car insurance discount.

"Parents have told us they need more information about guiding their teen through the learning to drive process.  This new application provides trip suggestions, goals and pointers for assessing driving skills.  By providing this tool State Farm hopes to support supervised practice and improve teens' skills for independent driving," said Laurette Stiles, Vice President – Strategic Resources at State Farm.

The Steer Clear mobile application is available for immediate use by current or prospective State Farm customers on iPhones or iPod touches.  In addition to teen drivers, young drivers up to the age of 25 may also participate in the Steer Clear program and qualify for a discount on their auto insurance of up to 15%.  For details and to download the application, go to www.statefarm.com and search for "Steer Clear."

About State Farm®: About State Farm®:

State Farm insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm's 17,700 agents and more than 67,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – almost 79 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 31 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®. 

SOURCE State Farm Insurance Companies