Car Clinic Teaches Teens Defensive Driving - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

WINONA, Minnesota (WXOW) – Statistics from Gundersen Lutheran Health System report that 71 percent of teenagers who land in the emergency room due to traffic accidents are there because a driver lost control of his or her car.

At a car control clinic in Winona Saturday, area teens got a crash course in defensive driving.

The clinic targeted drivers between the ages of 15 and 19, hoping to give them real-life experience in driving situations often overlooked in drivers education classes.

"Training them, even with that extra day of training, really tends to lower the accident rate," said driving instructor Larry Boyer. "They have a lot more confidence. "They're totally a lot more aware on the freeway, and it makes me feel better when I'm driving, too because I know they're out there and they know a little more."

Teens who attended the clinic learned how to transfer the weight of their car and maneuver around obstacles that might unexpectedly pop up in the roadway.

They also practiced dealing with extreme weather conditions – simulated through firefighters wetting down a driving course and filling it with soap.

The soaped up roadway was supposed to simulate black ice, which the teens might come across while driving in the winter.