Doug Herbert, NHRA Top Fuel driver, lost his two sons to an automobile accident in 2008 when his teenage son was speeding with his brother in the car. Todd Follmer’s teenage son was 16 when he was speeding with his girlfriend following behind. She lost control of the vehicle she was driving and lost her life after hitting a tree. Follmer is the CEO of tiwi.   

As a result, Herbert and Follmer have dedicated themselves to decreasing fatalities and injuries of teenagers due to automobile accidents, the leading cause of death among American teenagers: Herbert, through the formation of the 501(c)(3), non-profit foundation B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible and Keep Everybody Safe); Follmer through the development of the tiwi teen driver mentoring system. Doug Herbert, NHRA Top Fuel driver, lost his two sons to an automobile accident in 2008 when his teenage son was speeding with his brother in the car. Todd Follmer’s teenage son was 16 when he was speeding with his girlfriend following behind. She lost control of the vehicle she was driving and lost her life after hitting a tree. Follmer is the CEO of tiwi.   

As a result, Herbert and Follmer have dedicated themselves to decreasing fatalities and injuries of teenagers due to automobile accidents, the leading cause of death among American teenagers: Herbert, through the formation of the 501(c)(3), non-profit foundation B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible and Keep Everybody Safe); Follmer through the development of the tiwi teen driver mentoring system.   

The two have formed a partnership to heighten the awareness of both organizations and, as a result, tiwi will sponsor Herbert’s Top Fuel dragster at his hometown race which kicks off tomorrow at zMax Dragway.

“tiwi is more than just a sponsor, it’s a perfect fit for my race team,” said Herbert. “I’ve been running the B.R.A.K.E.S. logo with a photo of my sons on the car to create awareness and educate young drivers about the importance of safe driving”

B.R.A.K.E.S. and tiwi have the same goal. B.R.A.K.E.S. provides hands on training to teach teens how to prevent an accident. The tiwi teen mentoring system keeps teens safe by using technology to help them learn good habits in their first years on the road.”

tiwi is the first on-board computer with the power to instantly alert and instruct young drivers while enabling parents to receive real-time notifications by phone, text or email concerning their child’s current location, actions and driving safety. tiwi helps teens become much more aware of driving situations and road conditions, reducing the dangers of distraction and poor judgment, which are the leading causes of crashes among new drivers.

In May of this year, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released an independent study titled “In-Vehicle Monitoring and the Driving Behavior of Teenagers” in which they used the tiwi teen mentoring system and found that “electronic monitoring of teenage drivers can reduce risky behavior” and that “parent participation in the monitoring process is key to successful behavioral modification.”

tiwi is also partnered with Herbert’s B.R.A.K.E.S program. Not only is tiwi the presenting sponsor of this evening’s fundraising dinner at The Speedway Club, but anybody who purchases tiwi through B.R.A.K.E.S. will receive a $100 discount on the tiwi unit and tiwi will donate 5% back to B.R.A.K.E.S.

“It’s hard to understand what it feels like to lose a child, especially when it possibly could have been prevented,” said Follmer. “But the point is, we don’t want any parent to know what that feeling is like, and teaming up with Doug and the B.R.A.K.E.S. program is the best way I know to get the message out there to both parents and teens.

“Although our technology has been used by NASCAR in incident data recorders and backup lap-counter systems for nearly nine years now, this is our first exposure to the NHRA. We’re really excited about this weekend and working with Doug to really make a difference.”

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