The Legacy

Memorial Cherry Tree planted at BMW Driving Center
As its roots spread, its branches grow, its increasing number of blossoms’ will represent the lives touched by the Guard Your Life program.

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In chaos theory, the butterfly effect suggests a small change can result in large and significant differences

As of 2022, more than 1800 teens have learned how to become safer drivers during the Guard Your Life Challenge classes at the BMW Driving School in Greer, SC. The classes are held four times a year.
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Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, volunteers, and past students, Guard Your Life Challenge is offered free to teens, except for a refundable deposit to hold the spot in the class. After the class is over, the deposit can be either refunded or donated to help cover the cost of future classes.  

The program is only possible due to the generous support of the BMW Performance Center as well as volunteers from BMW Manufacturing, Entercom Upstate, and Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).  For the past two years, CU-ICAR researchers have studied the program’s impact on teens, using surveys immediately after the program as well as follow-up phone interviews later on. “Over half of the students who participated in the Guard Your Life event have used the skills to prevent themselves from being in a crash,” according to Dr. Johnell Brooks, Associate Professor and Researcher at CU-ICAR .

• ​Since 2012, the program has equipped 1800+ teens with safe driving skills
• The most important skill learned according to the teens was skid recovery
• Over 2/3 of teens report that they have used the skills they learned in the class on the road
• Over 3/4 of teens report that they have changed their driving behaviors as a result of the class
• Over 2/3 of participants reported avoiding motor vehicle crashes using skills learned at Guard Your Life

December 10, 2017