B.R.A.K.E.S. to wrap up weekend training in Jefferson City

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

B.R.A.K.E.S., the nonprofit created by NHRA driver Doug Hebert will finish up its weekend training session at the Missouri EVOC Training Center Jefferson City

The free national teen defensive driving program training sessions will be from 8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. but will be broken up into two three-hour sessions, according to organizers.

B.R.A.K.E.S., which stands for "be responsible and keep everyone safe." was created in 2008 after Hebert lost his two sons in car crash that same year.

The training is for teens between 15 and 19-years-old. To qualify, the teenager has to have at least 30 hours of driving experience behind the wheel, have a drivers permit or license and the parent has to attend the session with them according to organizers.

According to the B.R.A.K.E.S. website, the training will consist of five hands on driving exercises including crash avoidance, drop wheel/off road recovery, distraction exercise, panic stop and a car control and skid recovery exercise.

Don Hughes, Central Region Manager with B.R.A.K.E.S says the teens will be taught be former and current law enforcement and race car drivers. "they will sit on right hand side and give your teens instructions on how to handle certain situations to avoid crashes, to scan ahead, they are picking things out they normally wouldn't pick out," Hughes said.

B.R.A.K.E.S says its graduates are 64% less likely to have a car crash in their first three years of driving and more than 50,000 teenagers and their parents has attended the B.R.A.K.E.S program across the country.

While B.R.A.K.E.S classes are full, organizers say teens can still be added to the waitlist for a chance to experience the training.

The next training is scheduled to be held July 15-16 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.