Corinne and Austin are available for media interviews at your convenience. Please call toll free anytime at 888-285-7875 or email Corinne@RookieDriver.Net to schedule an interview.

Rookie Driver In The News Press Releases Media Pictures and Logo for Download Fast Facts How It All Happened – Company History Who We Are – Our Bios Contact Us Teen Driver Expert Statistical Resource Links Click For A Printable Version Rookie Driver In The News 'Rookie Driver on TV' Listen to Rookie Driver Founder on WBZ Radio Boston March 2008 Practice Doesn't Always Make Perfect, But It Can Help Teens Become Better Drivers Corinne Fortenbacher Happy Magazine Online.com February 18, 2008 Keeping New Drivers Safe on the Road Becky Scott Askpatty.com December 8, 2007 Mother, son create magnet decals to identify rookie teenage drivers By Chad Lerch Lansing State Journal December 2, 2007 Magnets for new drivers an idea that sticks Mich. families get creative to help kids By Chad Lerch Detroit Free Press November 28, 2007 Magnets attract new drivers Family's firm lets motorists know a rookie is at the wheel. By Chad Lerch The Detroit News November 20, 2007 Mom, son create `cool' signs for young drivers Magnetic decals for cars meant to alert motorists for safety By Chad Lerch Kalamazoo Gazett November 19, 2007 Car magnets alert motorists to young drivers By Chad D. Lerch and Cami Reister The Grand Rapids Press November 10, 2007 Young driver creates cool way to get drivers to back off By Chad D. Lerch Muskegon Chronicle October 24, 2007 Click Here to see video clip of 'Rookie Driver' designation taking off 2007 WorldNow and WOODTV October 24, 2007 'Rookie Driver' designation taking off 2007 WorldNow and WOODTV September 25, 2007 Parents have critical role in driver training By Pittsburgh Tribune Review staff and wire reports September 5, 2007 Sign On - A mom comes up with a way to alert motorists that a teen driver is on the road RoadKing July 28, 2007 Rosen: Making the best of those teen driving years The Kansas City Star June 21, 2007 Tesla Roadster gets price jolt before release By Jim Mateja Chicago Tribune June 20, 2007 'Rookie Driver' Magnet Identifies Teen Drivers to Improve Safety America's Safety Training Headquarters May 17, 2007 How to Track Your Teen Driver By Stephanie Schaerr Newsweek -Top of Page-   Press Releases April 28, 2008 ''Symbols' To Help Recognize Teen Drivers, Granted U.S. Federal Trademark Registration February 7, 2008 Teen Driving Safety Advocate Says 'Parents Must Fight For Their Teens' Lives' December 6, 2007 New 'Teen Driving' Alerts Taking Off Nationally November 12, 2007 'Rookie Driver' Designation Taking Off Nationally October 11, 2007 Building Support for National Teen Driver Safety Week September 5, 2007 Parents of Teens Play Critical Role in Drivers Training June 12, 2007 'Rookie Driver' Symbol Identifies Teen Drivers, Improves Safety May 1, 2007 NATIONWIDE “RALLY-FOR-TEEN-DRIVER-SAFETY” CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF Rookie Driver Providing Safety-Aids to Increase Awareness Sept. 26, 2006 RookieDriver.Net Energizes Teen Driver Awareness with Launch of Stylistic ‘Rookie Driver'™ Products Designed by Teens, Products Alert Fellow Drivers That There’s a Novice Driver on the Road -Top of Page- Media Pictures and Logo for Download New Driver Logo on Car 72 dpi Black & White Version   72 dpi Color Version 300 dpi Black & White Version 300 dpi Color Version Rookie Driver Logo on Car 72 dpi Black & White Version   72 dpi Color Version 300 dpi Black & White Version 300 dpi Color Version Corinne and Austin Fortenbacher Mother and Son, Co-Founders of  RookieDriver.net Photos of Corinne and Austin 72 dpi Color Version   72 dpi Black & White Version 300 dpi Color Version   300 dpi Black & White Version To Download Any Logo Just Right Click On The Link And Save Target As .jpg format .gif format .tif format .psd format 72 jpg 72 gif     300 jpg 300 gif 300 tif 300 psd 600 jpg 600 gif 600 tif 600 psd 900 jpg 900 gif 900 tif 900 psd   Download PDF   Download EPS -Top of Page- Fast Facts About 'Rookie Driver'® Goals – Driven by the vision that new teen driver awareness products need to move from a "should-have" status to a "must-have" status, our goal is to change the face of teen driving awareness products by creating instantly recognized, branded products that teens positively embrace.   To improve communication by sharing useful teen driver safety information for parents AND teens on the RookieDriver.Net website. Mission Statement – Based on the alarming current teen driving statistics, and the fact that there will be a 25% increase of additional teen drivers by 2010, our mission is to identify new inexperienced teen drivers for other drivers to increase safety for all drivers.   We are determined to promote and expand better teen driver awareness products in an effort to increase acceptance of their use. Our passion is developing progressive products coveted by parents and accepted by new teen drivers.   Creating distinctive designs that blend style, awareness, performance and teen acceptance together; we help identify new inexperienced teen drivers and promote safer driving for all. We will continue to expand, improve and share the RookieDriver.Net website safety resources on how to advance safer teen driving by building a communication bridge between parents and their teen drivers. • Rookie Driver® products launched July 2006 • RookieDriver.Net website launched September 2006 • Company founders: Corinne Fortenbacher (Mom) & Austin Fortenbacher (Son) • Based in Spring Lake, Michigan Fast Facts About Teen Driver Statistics   “New drivers have high crash risks for several reasons.   One main reason: They are inexperienced, just learning to drive.   The mechanics of driving require much of their attention, so safety considerations frequently are secondary.” - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “Your Teen has a 3-in-10 Chance of Being in a Serious Traffic Accident in Their First Year of Driving, Due to Inexperience.” - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “New Teen Drivers Have Crash Rates FIVE Times Higher Than 18-Year-Old Drivers, Due to Inexperience.” - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The Average Student Drivers Training Class Provides Your Teen With ONLY 6 HOURS of Driving Experience! Then You are Responsible for Your Teen’s Continued “Real Life” On-The-Road Drivers Training…. “Parents play a key role in their teenagers' driving.   In many States a parent or guardian must sign the driver's license application for a teenager under 18 and parents can withdraw their approval at any time.   Parents can set limits on their teenagers' driving.   Through their own driving, parents provide role models for good or bad driving practices.   Parents can be involved explicitly and formally, through GDL requirements for a minimum number of hours of supervised driving practice under a learner's permit.” - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -Top of Page- How It All Happened – Company History Mom and Teen Son Develop Unique Teen Driver Awareness Products, Launching New Company And Website Nearly every parent is nervous the first time they sit in the passenger seat with their 15 year old at the wheel.   This frightening scenario is played out millions of times annually as nearly 3 million new teen drivers hit the road in the United States each year with their parents at their side, as they begin their journey from student driver to a fully licensed driver. It was certainly scary driving with my 15 year-old son, Austin. Although most parents would like their new teen driver to have some sort of 'student driver' awareness sticker on the car for added safety, most teens do not like what is currently available.   The other yellow and black Student-Driver or New-Driver stickers on the market are embarrassing to the teens and are also easily ignored by other drivers and mistaken as 'just another' bumper sticker, therefore not even read or noticed.   AND, several other products use “Student Driver” like the Drivers Training vehicles do, which gives a false impression that a licensed instructor with an additional break is in the car. It was clear to us that we needed to create a completely distinctive logo that would alert Austin’s new driver status to others in a way that didn’t give the false impression that an instructor was with the new driver….AND do it in a cool way.   We went directly to Austin and his friends, enlisting their input to design a name and logo which would not embarrass them about their new driver status. After many name suggestions, Rookie Driver was chosen as the most universally recognized words describing a new driver...which would also be acceptable to teens, versus the ‘student’ or ‘new’ driver stickers they had seen.   AND we wanted to create a very distinctive logo design shape to ensure that not just the words 'Rookie Driver’, but also the logo would be universally and instantly recognized by other drivers….a ‘’symbol’ which automatically makes other drivers aware that there is a new teen driver behind the wheel.   So, ‘Rookie Driver®’ was born! But we wanted to do more than just sell a great new safety product.   We developed and launched the RookieDriver.Net website….not just to promote ‘Rookie Driver®’ Products; but to promote other aspects of teen driver safety and awareness.   We have multiple links, which are extremely helpful and beneficial to both teens and parents in regards to many aspects of teen driving safety. ‘Rookie Driver®’ products are available in car magnets and removable vinyl stickers.   These products are a win-win situation for everyone involved – the other drivers are alerted to the teens “rookie” status, parents feel safer with their teen at the wheel knowing others are aware of their inexperience, and the teens are more accepting of their use.   And for convenience of the parents and teens, the products are easily removed when the parents or other experienced drivers are driving. -Top of Page- Who We Are – Our Bios Corinne Fortenbacher I was born and raised in Spring Lake, Michigan.   After High School I moved to California to live with my older brother and attend college.   While living in Modesto, California I worked for a local radio station, and later worked at the Modesto Bee Newspaper in the advertising department.   I moved back to Michigan in the spring of 1986 and worked for a Fortune 500 furniture company in the Human Resources Department for 17 years.   With the numerous rounds of job eliminations I was participating in, I lost the enthusiasm for that line of work, so I resigned and teamed up with my husband, Jeff, as a Director-of-Regional-Support for a national smoothie and coffee franchise company.   For the past 5 years we have been responsible for marketing and developing new franchises for the state of Michigan. We have 3 sons, Aaron 23, Austin 15 and Taylor 13.   I learned quickly that working out of our home office offered me the opportunity to become very active in our teen-age sons lives. When our second son, Austin, received his drivers training permit we felt we needed to develop a teen-friendly way to inform other drivers that a new driver was at the wheel.   With my marketing and development experience and background, it seemed like a fun project with great merit AND a project I could share with Austin.   I also wanted to share with others the many safety resources available on how to improve safer teen driving, so we created the RookieDriver.Net website.   This allows parents and teens access from our website to many other extremely helpful websites, all related to teen driver safety. We have found by using the ‘Rookie Driver®’ products that other drivers are more courteous, cautious and forgiving when teens are at the wheel.   I am no longer a bundle of nerves when Austin is driving because of the ‘Rookie Driver®’ products we use on our car…..other drivers know he is learning and have repeatedly given him extra space in heavy traffic, openings when he needs to change lanes and an encouraging thumbs up sign while he is driving. Email: Corinne@RookieDriver.Net Austin Fortenbacher Austin was born in Grand Haven, Michigan and has lived here all his life.   He loves sports, basketball and football especially.   The Detroit Pistons are without a doubt his favorite team; in fact he named our Labradoodle puppy “Chauncey Billups” after one of his favorite Pistons’ players.   As far as football teams, he is a devoted University of Michigan football fan along with an optimistic Detroit Lions fan. Austin is in 10th grade this year and recently received his driver’s permit.   He has a year to drive with us, his parents, before he can receive his “solo” license.   During this training period we have found it helpful to alert drivers about his “rookie driver’ status”.   He began driving without any alert products and found other drivers to be impatient, rude and reckless around him. It was Austin who said “we really need a cooler way to tell other drivers that we are new to the road….something better than those yellow and black ‘student driver’ stickers!”   Austin has learned a lot about marketing, having spent the last five years listening and participating with my husband and I as we marketed and developed our Michigan franchise territory.   His older brother Aaron graduated this year from college with a degree in sales and marketing and he has also been assisting us with this project – this has truly become a “family business”. Now that Austin uses the ‘Rookie Driver®’ products he has not experienced the type of aggressive behaviors from other drivers he had before, when they didn’t realize he was a new driver.   Instead he has received extra space on the road.   It is obvious that all drivers understand how much pressure a new driver feels and when they know someone is a new driver, they give them some extra consideration. Email: Austin@RookieDriver.Net -Top of Page- Contact Us Email – RookieDriver@RookieDriver.Net Contact: Corinne Fortenbacher Email – Corinne@RookieDriver.Net Contact: Austin Fortenbacher Email – Austin@RookieDriver.Net Phone: 888-285-7875 Website – www.RookieDriver.Net Spring Lake, Mi 49456 Teen Driver Expert Statistical Resource Links Use these helpful links for added information and verification of statistics National Highway Traffic Safety Association teen crash facts and strategies to reduce crashes http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/airbags/ Countermeasures/pages/Chapt6/6YoungDrivers.htm NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/ Traffic%20Injury%20Control/Articles/ Associated%20Files/GraduatedDriver2005.pdf Department of Transportation – National Teen Driving statistics http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/wzsafety/pdfs/ Drivingstats.pdf#search= %22teen%20driving%20statistics%22 For other helpful teen driving links, please go to our safety links section on our home page.