Cooper Tire to Participate in National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) Teen Safe Driving Summit, Oct. 17-20
Teen Race Car Driver Tristan Nunez to Represent Cooper, Demonstrating
Tire Safety Tips and Addressing Peers
FINDLAY, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As part of Cooper Tire’s ongoing commitment to tire safety, the company
will take part in the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS)
Teen Safe Driving Summit, which takes place Oct. 17 through Oct. 20 at
the Hilton Old Town in Alexandria, Va. The summit is the kick off to
National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs Oct. 18 through Oct. 24.
The Teen Safe Driving Summit, which originally began five years ago as a
distracted driving prevention event, has broadened its agenda this year
to include a wide range of driving safety issues such as seat belt use,
speeding, impaired driving, auto safety, and now also tire safety with
Cooper’s involvement. Nearly 100 youth and advisors from over 20 states
will attend the summit and participate in a new Interactive Lab Station
for additional hands-on learning opportunities. Attendees are
responsible for going back to their communities following the summit to
share what they have learned with peers. This youth-led
approach—involving teens in peer-to-peer education—is thought to be most
effective at preventing injury and saving lives.
Cooper will be represented at the event by teenage MAZDA Factory race
car driver and distracted driving prevention advocate Tristan Nunez.
Nunez, 19, is a full-time driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship Series. He launched the Dnt txt n drV Foundation in 2014,
and is a passionate advocate for distracted driving prevention, making
numerous appearances at high schools throughout his racing schedule and
speaking at some of the nation’s most important safe driving forums.
Nunez will be at the Interactive Lab Station representing Cooper on Oct.
18 from noon to 4 p.m., and will demonstrate tire safety tips including
how to check tires for proper tread depth and inflation pressure as well
as how to assess the overall condition of a tire. He will also appear at
the Summit Oct. 19 at 1:40 p.m. as a speaker on the distracted driving
panel, where he will focus on the dangers that distractions pose to teen
drivers, their passengers and all road users.
“Parents and teens rightfully spend a lot of time thinking about the
safety of their cars and driving behaviors,” said Jessica Egerton,
Cooper’s Director of Brand Development. “But, they don’t always give the
same level of attention to their tires. Your tires are the only thing
connecting your car to the road, and that’s why proper tire selection,
care and maintenance are so critical for safe driving. Cooper is
committed to tire safety and to reaching out in our communities to
inform and educate,” she added.
“I often feel safer when I’m on the race track than when I’m driving on
the highway,” Nunez said. “Race car drivers are highly focused on safety
and operating our vehicles with the utmost care, which is critical at
the speeds we run. Yet, on the streets every day, there is much less
attention to safe driving and there are so many distractions. New
drivers are especially vulnerable to these distractions and they are
also generally less knowledgeable about aspects such as tire safety. I’m
excited to connect with the kids who will attend the Teen Safe Driving
Summit because they’ll go back and spread what they have learned,
helping to keep their friends safe on the road.”
About NOYS and the Teen Safe Driving Summit
The National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) is a national
coalition that works to promote youth safety across the country. From
injury prevention to substance abuse and violence prevention, NOYS
promotes safe and healthy lifestyles while encouraging youth empowerment
and leadership. NOYS member organizations include federal government
agencies, business and industry, nonprofits, and youth-participating
organizations, with a collective reach of over seven million youth. The
national Teen Safe Driving Summit has been one of NOYS’ signature events
for over five years. Local outreach activities, led by youth
participants of the national summit, reach tens of thousands of students
with messages about safe driving. Learn more at NOYS.org.
About Tristan Nunez and Dnt txt n drV
Tristan Nunez is a 19-year-old professional auto racing driver who
competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series as a
MAZDA factory driver for SpeedSource. Nunez became the youngest class
winner in GRAND-AM and American Le Mans Series history in 2013, and
became the youngest SportsCar champion in 2012, when he captured the
Cooper Tires Prototype Lites powered by Mazda Series championship. Born
to a now-retired professional tennis player, Nunez began his racing
career at the age of 11 while his twin brother continuing to pursue
tennis. Nunez advanced his racing career with multiple karting
championships and then transitioned to Skip Barber formula cars, where
he was named 2010 Rookie of the Year in the Skip Barber Southern Series
and won the Skip Barber Summer Series overall points championship. The
teen also won the 2012 Team USA Scholarship and the Walter Hayes Trophy
at Silverstone, and was named by Sports Illustrated as a “Face in the
Crowd”. The young Floridian stays active on and off the racetrack as the
face of his Dnt txt n drV Foundation, where he serves as an advocate for
the prevention of distracted driving. For more information, visit http://www.tristannunez.com,
http://www.DnttxtndrVFoundation.org,
http://www.twitter.com/tristannunez,
or http://www.facebook.com/TristanNunezRacing.
About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) is the parent company of a
global family of companies that specialize in the design, manufacture,
marketing and sale of passenger car and light truck tires. Cooper and
its subsidiaries also sell medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires.
Cooper’s headquarters is in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales,
distribution, technical and design operations within its family of
companies located in more than one dozen countries around the world. For
more information on Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com,
www.facebook.com/coopertire
or www.twitter.com/coopertire.
Contacts
Cooper Tire
Michelle Rehbein, 419-424-4251
mrrehbein@coopertire.com
