Born Out of Necessity

In Mid 2007 Tom Lee, a widowed father of twin teenage girls, was at his wit’s end trying to find an effective way to teach his daughters how to drive.

Although they were taking Drivers Ed in high school, there was no way to find out if or what they were learning. When asked, they said they were watching movies or else they complained that the ten year old driving simulators were broken once again. The Drivers Education program at their high school was classroom only and provided no behind the wheel training. The sole goal of the program was to enable the students to pass the state’s written driving exam and get their learners permit.

As a retired member of the United States Navy Special Operation Community, Tom understood the need for a comprehensive training strategy for his daughters to learn to recognize and avoid the dangers of the modern road.

He searched the Internet for a viable program and bought every product he could find. He ended up with lots of non-compatible computer software, outdated driving videos and poorly written manuals. The realization that there had to be a better way to produce safety conscious teen drivers quickly set in.

A serial entrepreneur, he started researching the Drivers Ed and Drivers Training industries looking for new technologies and emerging trends. He traveled around the country talking to industry and academic experts as well as looking at the newest in driving simulators and technologies. In May of 2008, after he felt he had all the answers he needed, Street Smarts Interactive, LLC was founded.

The Challenge

With a development team of experts from various disciplines, challenged with what some thought was an impossible mission, he created a new driver training product for teens and parents that is:

1. Effective in reducing teen automobile crashes and saving teen lives
2. Interactive and engaging for teens
3. Empowering for parents and that provides a set of tools to teach their teen to drive
4. Internet delivered and at the leading edge of interactive technology
5. Easy to maintain and keep current
6. Inexpensive for parents
7. Available not only to parents, but to everyone involved in Drivers Ed and Teen Driving Safety
    

We Did It!

The result of this nearly impossible effort is the Street Smarts 101 Program!