Teen Grasshopper, a company founded by UW-Whitewater students to prevent teen driving accidents, has signed an exclusive partnership with Wisconsin-based driving school Just Drive.
Teen Grasshopper offers a real time notification service that allows following drivers to contact the parent of the driver they are following.
In 2011, drivers aged 15 to 20 in Wisconsin were involved in about 23,000 crashes, killing 81 teens. The economic loss of this age group in the state was roughly $450 million in 2011 according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
In honor of National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 21-26, Teen Grasshopper is donating 50, two-year Teen Grasshopper safety decals and launching a year-long case study on teen driving. The first 50 people who use the coupon code, ‘justdrive’ at www.teengrasshopper.com will receive a decal for free.
“We believe that if parents are exposed to more driving safety solutions, the probability of accidents will decrease,” Scott Bretl, founder of Just Drive, said.
Bretl has 36 franchisees in Wisconsin and is expanding throughout the state at a healthy rate.
Christian Pedretti, Teen Grasshopper co-founder and a student at UW-Whitewater, said the service has driving observers call a toll free phone number which immediately forwards the call to the teen driver’s parents.
“There is room for improvement with most teens’ driving skills,” Pedretti said. “With more than 10 million teen drivers in the U.S., we plan to be a household name within the next five years.”
After the first 50 free decals are awarded, parents who sign up with Teen Grasshopper will pay around $90 for a one-year contract or the cost of one or two gallons of gas per month.
“Teen Grasshopper is an example of a successful start-up company to evolve from UW-Whitewater’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The value proposition is exceptional because they have introduced a new medium of communication between concerned drivers and the parents, that previously did not exist,” William Dougan, head advisor for UW-Whitewater’s entrepreneur program, said.
The partnership shows Just Drive’s commitment to providing innovative driving solutions to parents in Wisconsin.
For more information visit www.teengrasshopper.com.
