Nissan Continues Teen Driver Safety Education Efforts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the second consecutive year, Nissan is partnering with the Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Office (GHSO) to engage teens about the importance of avoiding distracted driving and other harmful behaviors behind the wheel through the ThinkFast® Interactive education program. Teen fatalities in Tennessee have declined steadily over the last 10 years from 178 in 2002 to 94 in 2012, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

ThinkFast® Interactive is an interactive awareness game show that educates students about the importance of teen driving safety. The program is set up like a game show, complete with a full production set, mainstream music, an entertaining host and informative and engaging trivia that appeal to teens.

"This partnership is a reflection of our continued commitment to driver and passenger safety," said Selim Hammoud, director Product Safety, Nissan. "Nissan has a vision of helping to eliminate teen accidents and fatalities by instilling safe driving habits in Tennessee students with the ThinkFast® Interactive program – just one of many safety education initiatives in place to help reduce the number of auto-related injuries and fatalities."

Historically, the Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Office has been able to offer ThinkFast® Interactive to 30 schools in the state starting with those that have the highest fatalities among teen drivers. With Nissan's support, the number of ThinkFast® Interactive events has grown to more than 110 Tennessee middle and high schools across the state for the 2013/2014 school year.

Nissan was recognized last year with the 2012 Lifesaver Award by the Governor's Highway Safety Office for its support of teen driving safety initiatives and demonstrated commitment to safe driving behaviors.

"Providing educational tools to teen drivers is one of the most important things we can do.  The spirit in which Nissan has helped us attack the problems of teen driving exhibits the best in corporate sponsorship. We are proud to continue that partnership again this year," said Kendell Poole, director, Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Office.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America, with teenagers being involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers.

Below is a list of schools scheduled to participate in the ThinkFast® Interactive program during the 2013/2014 school year. This is not a comprehensive list.

About the Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Office
The Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Office is a division of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Our vision at the Governor's Highway Safety Office is to have all highway users arrive at their destination and to establish a time when there will be no loss of life on Tennessee's roadways. Our mission is to save lives and reduce injuries on Tennessee roads through leadership, innovation, coordination, and program support in partnership with other public and private organizations. In order to accomplish this mission, the Governor's Highway Safety Office has developed an action plan that addresses the behavioral aspects of highway safety; that is, activities that affect the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of highway users and safety professionals. For the past four years, Tennessee has been able to reduce traffic fatalities by more than 25%, reaching the goals set forth by the State Strategic Highway Safety Plan. Our long-range goal is to reduce the number of traffic fatalities to 900 or less by the end of 2013. More information about Tennessee's Governor's Highway Safety Office can be found online at http://www.tdot.state.tn.us./ghso/ and http://www.tntrafficsafety.org.

About Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program and has been recognized as an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.InfinitiUSA.com, or visit the Americas media sites NissanNews.com and InfinitiNews.com.

About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 236,000 employees globally, Nissan sold more than 4.9 million vehicles and generated revenue of 9.6 trillion yen (USD 116.16 billion) in fiscal 2012. Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of over 60 models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. In 2010, Nissan introduced the Nissan LEAF, and continues to lead in zero-emission mobility. The LEAF, the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicle launched globally, is now the best-selling EV in history.

For more information on our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit our website at http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/.

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Contacts:

Justin P. Saia
Nissan Corporate Communications
(615) 725-3061
Justin.Saia@nissan-usa.com