Up Close: Road safety for teen drivers

Bill Ritter Image
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Up Close: Teen driving safety
Bill Ritter talks with Robert Sinclair, a spokesperson for the Triple A, and Karen Perrone, a driver's ed teacher.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The numbers are staggering, and painful: More than 1,000 Americans die every year in car crashes involving teenagers.

And during summer months, that risk goes up 16%.

So many factors are at play: more younger drivers on the road, inexperienced, distracted, and too often speeding.

So how to reduce the number of teen driving deaths?

Joining us this week are Robert Sinclair, a spokesperson for the Triple A, and Karen Perrone, a driver's ed teacher who has teenage daughters, the older one driving for a year and a second one about to start driving.

Monday is the 40th anniversary of the Macy's 4th of July fireworks spectacular.

And for the third straight year, the fireworks will be over the East River: 52,000 shells fired in a 25-minute extravaganza.

Joining us is Amy Kule, the executive producer of the show.

Bill Ritter talks with Amy Kule, the executive producer of the Macy's 4th of July fireworks show.

Finally, it's not something most of us think about - until we or someone we love needs it.

We're talking about blood, because the New York Blood Center has declared an emergency.

There is now less than a day's supply of 'O' negative, and less than two days supply of 'B' negative.

The center in New York provides blood to 150 area hospitals.

With is is Harvey Schaffler, executive director of donor marketing for the New York Blood Center.

Watch the final segment of UpClose for Sunday, July 3rd, 2016.