Although young drivers represent only 6.6% of the nation’s licensed drivers, they are involved in 14.8% of fatal crashes. The Rookie Driver Car Magnet, a brainchild of Corinne Fortenbacher and her teenage son Austin, is an easy way to alert other drivers that a novice driver is behind the wheel. The magnet comes in three styles and two different sizes. The story of their business is an interesting one.
The idea for their product came when to Fortenbacher shortly after her son got his drivers’ permit. Austin was driving, with Corinne in the passenger’s seat. They approached a construction zone when an impatient truck driver rattled the nerves of the 15-year-old new driver. The semi truck pulled up on Fortenbacher’s rear bumper and honked its’ horn. This forced Austin into a rookie mistake. Startled, he took his eyes off the road when he turned to see the truck. Their car swerved, and the Fortenbachers barely escaped an accident.
“It was simple inexperience, the leading cause of new driver crashes,” said Fortenbacher. “Had the truck driver known he was directly behind a novice teen driver, he would have surely been more patient and backed off.”
Once safe at home, the Fortenbachers looked online at ‘new driver’ and ’student driver’ magnets to place on the family car to alert others of Austin’s novice driving status. But nothing they found was cool enough, in Austin’s opinion. So Mom and son worked together to create a more teen-friendly choice to the existing car magnet safety alerts.
The result is their expanding ‘Rookie Driver’ designation, currently distributed in 45 states and Canada. Fortenbacher says parent concerns and the fact that over one million teens are involved in auto accidents each year have helped spread the word.
Austin says, “the likable phrase and cool design make Rookie Driver car magnets less awkward for new drivers. And because we created a logo to go with the Rookie Driver term, people recognize the ’symbol’ and quickly realize it designates that a new driver is behind the wheel.”
“Much more needs to be done to prevent teen crashes, the leading cause of death for young people in the U.S.,” Fortenbacher adds. “No one can eliminate accidents, but parents can take every safety measure possible. Our website provides many teen driving safety links and a blog for parents and teens to share safety tips.”
When asked about how they manufacture the magnet, Fortenbacher responded “After we designed the logo we had a magnet company die cut and produce the magnets for us.”
A car magnet business opportunity could be just the thing for you. What would you put on a custom car magnet?
Mark on November 29th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
For the first year after they receive their drivers license, drivers here in Japan are required to put a “wakaba” magnet on any car they drive.
Drivers 75 years old and older must use a “kareha” magnet.