2015 Class of GDL
Established in 2011 by the New Jersey Teen Safe Driving Coalition, the GDL Champions
program calls attention to the impact of the state’s Graduated Driver’s License program which is
proven to reduce teen driver crashes. GDL Champions work diligently to educate, enforce and
advocate for the proven principles of graduated driver licensing. This year the Coalition honors
two retired police officers who are sharing their expertise with South Jersey teens, a student who
was motivated by a tragic crash to educate not only her peers but adults about their responsibility
to safely share the road, a teacher who has taken driver education to an entirely new and
impactful level, an injury prevention organization that is empowering youth to be traffic safety
leaders, and an advocate who has championed stronger GDL and distracted driving laws for
more than two decades. These six GDL Champions join with 32 individuals, organizations and
initiatives previously recognized by the Coalition. Past and current inductees represent both the
public and private sector and include educators, parents, teens, community activists, elected
officials, police officers, businessmen and women, reporters, and safety professionals. They were
nominated for the award and selected by an impartial panel of judges who are experts in teen
safe driving.
RWJ – Safe Kids Middlesex County
Robert Wood Johnson/Safe Kids Middlesex County, which is led by Diana Starace and a team of
dedicated injury prevention professionals and volunteers, has been a leader in developing and
delivering traffic safety programs that educate, engage and influence teens for more than a
decade. RWJ/Safe Kids introduced its Safety Ambassador Program seven years ago to not only
educate teens about the risks they face as new drivers, but also to take action to protect
themselves and their friends. The teens learn invaluable lessons about traffic safety through the
lesson plans they develop and teach to first and second graders in their communities. Working in
partnership with seven SADD Chapters, RWJ/Safe Kids launched the Central Jersey High
School Traffic Safety Challenge two years ago to increase restraint use and improve safe driving
practices among young drivers through a peer-to-peer model. Unannounced pre- and postchallenge seatbelt and distracted driving checks are conducted to gauge program impact and
behavior change. RWJ/Safe Kids is also a key partner in the Middlesex County Distracted
Driving Campaign’s R U a Safer Driver? program, which is reaching thousands of Middlesex
County students via assemblies and driver education classes. For those teens not yet old enough
to drive, RWJ/Safe Kids also offers Countdown2Drive, a national educational program that’s
designed to equip 13 and 14-year-olds and their parents with safe passenger and driving
knowledge. The web-based resource helps families develop customized passenger agreements
and guidelines that bolster the adoption of positive behaviors that will help keep teens safe once
they’re behind the wheel. Recognizing that every hour a teen pedestrian is injured or killed after
being hit by a car in the U.S., RWJ/Safe Kids is also calling attention to the problem through
Teens on the Move. The initiative offers tips to help teens be safe on and near the road including
eliminating the distraction caused by walking while using cell phones and other electronic
devices. RWJ/Safe Kids Middlesex County’s commitment to helping teens take the lead in
educating themselves and their peers about how to be safe whether they’re sitting in the driver or
passenger seat or crossing the street is why the Coalition honors the organization as a 2015 GDL
Champion.
Sreya Chhugani
Montgomery High School rising senior Sreya Chhugani knows first-hand how the decisions
drivers make impact others. In 2011, Sreya’s best friend and 11-year-old cousin, Nikhil, was
fatally injured when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a motorist who ran a stop sign.
Since then, she has dedicated her time to educating not only her peers, but also children and
adults about preventing traffic crashes. As part of her school’s U Got Brains Champion Schools
Program campaign, Sreya worked with the planning committee to organize Glow for GDL, a
5K/3K run/walk held from 6 to 9 in the evening on March 28th. Despite the weather – it was
bitterly cold – Sreya and her team were there from 9 in the morning to prepare for the event.
Organizing a run/walk is no small feat; it takes months of preparation from setting up the online
registration and mapping out and marking the course, to securing food, entertainment and prizes.
More than 100 people participated in the event. All runners and walkers received a glow-in-thedark t-shirt and other items to thank them for their participation and support. Sreya, who is
17years of age, understands the importance of young drivers gaining experience before gaining
full driving privileges. Her commitment to ensuring that not only teens, but also adults recognize
the awesome responsibility that comes with a driver’s license and obey traffic safety laws each
and every trip is why the Coalition honors her as a 2015 GDL Champion.
Robert Clarke
As a member of the Atlantic City Police Department and a traffic accident reconstructionist, Bob
Clarke saw his share of car crashes. Determined to stem the tide of fatalities involving teen
drivers, he created Car Crashes – It’s Basic Physics and began working with teachers to present
it at local high schools. The program uses information taken from actual crashes Bob
investigated, coupled with math and physics, to educate teens about crash dynamics and vehicle
engineering. Students discover why the crashes occurred and learn how factors such as speed,
failure to buckle up and distraction can be deadly. The use of math and science has enabled Bob
to expand the program’s reach well beyond driver education classes and share his lifesaving
message with many more students and teachers. When he retired from law enforcement in 2012
after 25-years of protecting and serving, Bob didn’t hit the links or head to the beach, instead he
joined the South Jersey Transportation Organization (SJTPO). As a traffic safety specialist for
SJTPO, he continues to educate teens, but has expanded his repertoire to include the Most
Dangerous Place on Earth, otherwise known as a car. Every week, Bob can be found working
with teens at high schools in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties. He’s also a
Share the Keys parent/teen program facilitator and instructor, and uses his law enforcement and
parenting experiences (he’s the father of a 17-year-old daughter) to connect with and relate to his
audience. Bob’s passion for sharing his expertise and experiences with teens so they recognize
what they can do to protect themselves when they’re behind the wheel is why the Coalition
honors him as a 2015 GDL Champion.
Tina Arcaro
Tina Arcaro is also a member of the staff of the South Jersey Transportation Planning
Organization and a former law enforcement official have served as the citizens of New Jersey as
a member of the State Police for 25 years. After retiring with the rank of Captain, she joined the
SJTPO in 2013 and has been working with students at high schools in Atlantic, Cape May,
Cumberland, and Salem Counties. Recently, she expanded her outreach to include teens in
Gloucester, Burlington, Camden and Mercer Counties through her involvement with the
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Committee Traffic Safety Task Force. Tina’s message to
teens is grounded in her work in motorcycle safety, graduated driver licensing and defensive
driving. She’s an avid motorcyclist and rider coach, one of the architects of the Share the Key’s
parent/teen orientation facilitator training program first piloted by the State Police in 2010, and
instructed the National Safety Council’s Defensive Driving program. Tina is now partnering with
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to
launch the Operation Safe Driver, Teens and Trucks program in New Jersey after a successful
demonstration event was held in South Jersey last fall. She also continues to serve as a Share the
Keys facilitator and is working with Kean University, the New Jersey Division of Highway
Traffic Safety and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Injury Research and
Prevention to assess the program’s impact and determine what can be done to make it even
better. Tina’s relentless focus on educating teens and parents about the risk for novice drivers
and how graduated driving licensing works to address that risk, is why the Coalition honors her
as a 2015 GDL Champion.
Terry Skjold
For Terry Skjold, teaching driver education is about far more than learning the rules of the road
and passing the written test. Instead, this dynamo is laser focused on ensuring her students at
Immaculate Heart Academy (IHA) in Bergen County develop safe driving behaviors and
practices that will keep them safe throughout their lifetime. As Chairperson of the Physical
Education Department at IHA, she is constantly dreaming up new ways to engage not only her
driver education students, but also the entire school community from faculty and administrators
to parents. She has rewarded students who found a specially placed Secret Santa and his daily
traffic safety message during the holidays as well as those displaying the graduated driver license
red decal (they received a gift certificate for a free Wendy’s frosty) through a positive
reinforcement program at IHA. Thanks to the work of IHA’s Safety Team, which under her
guidance conducts monthly teen safe driving activities, the school was awarded a $25,000 grant
through the national Celebrate My Drive program, which helps new drivers make smart choices
behind the wheel. IHA also participates in the Hackensack University Medical Center High
School Traffic Safety Challenge and has won the seat belt challenge the past 10 years thanks to a
90% usage rate. Terry is trained to facilitate the Share the Keys parent/teen orientation program
and is driven to learn as she attends as many professional development trainings as possible
throughout the year. In 2014, Terry was one of three driver educators honored by NJAHPERD
for developing an impactful and creative lesson plan. She is constantly developing new lessons,
writing articles and sharing information and ideas with her fellow teachers to help them raise the
bar in their classroom and recently became a member of the newly formed NJAHPERD Driver
Education Committee. Terry’s creativity, passion and dedication to educating and inspiring her
students to be safe drivers are why the Coalition honors her as a 2015 GDL Champion.
John Ulczycki
John Ulczycki is committed to preventing injuries and saving lives. As Group Vice President for
the National Safety Council, he has traveled across the country advocating for graduated driver
licensing laws. He leads the organization’s initiative to build statewide teen safe driving
coalitions, of which New Jersey is one of eleven, as well as the national campaign to educate
parents of teen drivers. In 2007, John hosted an International Symposium on graduated driver
licensing to document the proven effects of the program and is now working with U.S. and
international advocates and researchers to promote the adoption of a new GDL framework. This
ground breaking initiative calls for greater parental involvement, the use of a GDL identifier,
increased driver training and education, and expansion of the novice driver licensing program to
include older teens. In addition to his focus on teen driving, John is also the principal architect of
the National Safety Council’s policies and strategies that call for a total ban on cell phone use
while driving. Under his leadership, the National Safety Council’s government affairs team is
currently working in the U.S. Congress and in state legislatures to enact teen driving and
distracted driving legislation. Thanks to John’s dedication and leadership, teen crashes are being
prevented and lives saved and for this reason the Coalition honors him as a 2015 GDL
Champion.