The purpose of the DRSR program is to offer a preventive educational program to encourage responsible decision-making when it comes to obeying traffic laws and to follow safe practices. Driving on the Right Side of the Road was developed to infuse the study of traffic safety issues into social studies classes at grades K-12 using the strategies of law-related education, including the use of judges and court support personnel as resource persons in classrooms.
DRSR Brochure 
DRSR Overview
Young drivers between the ages of 15 and 20, compromise 6.5% of the licensed population and too often are amongst the high number of Texans injured or killed due to speed, DUI, failure to wear a seat belt, and other poor driving habits.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death of 15-20 year olds. NHTSA reported that 23% of the young drivers between the ages of 15 and 20, who were killed in crashes, had a BAC of .08 or higher.
Driving on the Right Side of the Road is a project aimed at social studies teachers at the elementary, middle and high school levels that is made possible through a collaborative effort with the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center and Law Focused Education Inc., a project of the State Bar of Texas and funding through the Texas Department of Transportation.
To see all of the materials and resources, click on the DRSR link at the right.
FY 2012 Highlights & Accomplishments
TMCEC again offered a series of teacher workshops in conjunction with the education service centers and the Law-Related Education Department of the State Bar of Texas.
New materials developed in FY 12 included two childrens' picture books (Be Careful, Lulu! and Don't Monkey Around with Safety in Cars), available in English and Spanish. A high school mock trial on texting and driving was produced. A set of skill building activites, called DoNows, were developed for grade 5 students. A Be Safe Online Learning Center was piloted for students and youth, parents, teachers, and courts. A DVD lending library was established. A research web page for elementary students was added.
FY 2011 Highlights & Accomplishments
FY 2011- All of the goals and objectives for FY 2011 have been met or exceeded.
There were 409 municipal judges and 815 court clerks trained on the DRSR program. This enables municipal judges and clerks to partner with teachers in the classroom and become a valuable resource with students in grades K-12 to educate them on traffic safety.
699 teachers have been trained in FY 2011:
- Law-Related Education (LRE), a division of the State Bar of Texas, one of our program partners in the DRSR project, trained 472 teachers in FY 2011 at the following conferences and workshops: LRE Statewide Conference, five LRE Overviews, four We the People Institutes, two Hatton W. Sumners Social Studies Student Teacher Institutes, and four New Social Studies TEKS Update: LRE Style workshops;
- 227 teachers were trained in FY 2011 through the summer Driving on the Right Side of the Road workshops held at various Education Services Centers.
Spanish resources: Hispanic students make up slightly more than half of Texas public school children. Enrollment data from the Texas Education Agency show that this school year Hispanic students reached 50.2 percent of Texas' 4.9 million public school children. This is a continuation of a trend that has been developing for a number of years. According to the Texas Education Agency, “the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing group of students." The DRSR K-3 & Activity Centers teaching materials have been translated to meet this need.
- Be Safety Smart and the Traffic Safety Memory Match on-line computer based learning games are available in English & Spanish;
- The Don’t Monkey Around on Field Trips and Safe-T-Squad books have been very popular with teachers, educators, court personnel, our traffic safety program partners, and TxDOT Traffic Safety Specialists. These books are available in English & Spanish, through audio in English and Spanish, and as power points in both English & Spanish.
Curriculum for K-12: The DRSR program is a series of lessons for social studies classes at the elementary and secondary levels on citizenship, education, and traffic safety. The program is aligned with the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), which all students are tested on in Texas public schools. The lessons use interactive strategies and computer based learning to teach traffic safety while studying city, state, and national government, the three branches of government, and the responsibilities of citizenship. Elementary lessons also use traffic safety content to teach language arts and math skills.
· Highlights FY 2008-2010
- Forty trainers across the state of Texas were trained on the Driving on the Right Side of the Road Program and materials, through an ongoing train-the-trainer.
- These trainers were involved in offering twenty-five Driving on the Right Side of the Road trainings across Texas in FY 08 with 601 people having been trained for a total of 2175 training hours.
- It is anticipated that the 640 people who were trained in FY 08 will positively impact 66,000 Texas children and youth through the DRSR Traffic Safety program in FY 09.
- Sets of lessons in conjunction with hands-on activities, computer based learning and gifted and talented extensions were developed. These learning strategies allow for the maximum benefit and retention. All of these materials and resources have been placed on the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center’s web-site for free access.
All of the FY08, FY 09, & FY 10 performance measures were met or exceeded.
For more information contact TMCEC at 800.252.3718
A project of the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center
in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation
