West Fargo Driver Education teacher honored

Darin Bardal, a driver education instructor from West Fargo, won the national American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association’s (ADTSEA) Teacher Excellence Award (TEA). This award is sponsored by the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF) and has honored outstanding driver and traffic safety educators since 1999. Darin was presented this award at the 2019 ADTSEA Conference in Burlington, Vermont in July.

Bardal has a passion for furthering driver education in the state by working to improve access to funding for instructors. He's also dedicated to providing opportunities for instructors to continue their education so they can keep up with the latest vehicle technologies, as well as increasing access to the ADTSEA “Train the Trainer” program.

“The Train the Trainer program would provide our experienced instructors with the education necessary to train new instructors on the best practices and materials available,” said Bardal.  “The program allows all instructors the proper training to become a successful driver education instructor for our students.”

Safety on the roadways is an important element of the combined effort of engineering, enforcement, education and emergency services that is a part of the Vision Zero strategy. Vision Zero has a primary goal of zero motor vehicle fatalities and serious injuries on North Dakota roads.