While high school seniors are squaring off in the 2014 NFADA Ron Smith Memorial AutoTech Competition this Saturday, Jan. 18, in Orchard Park, area high school juniors will once again be learning the ropes and taking part in their own competition — a Tire Rodeo. 

Both competitions will take place beginning at 9 a.m. and will conclude with an awards ceremony at approximately 2 p.m. at the Erie Community College Vehicle Technology Training Center, 5885 Big Tree Road, Orchard Park. The event is open to the public.

The Resource Training Center is issuing a special challenge this week to the parents of all teen drivers with a special “5 to Drive” campaign encouraging parents to always set the rules before their teens hit the road.

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of teens in America. In 2011, 2,105 teen drivers were involved in fatal crashes – with almost half (45 percent) of those teen drivers being killed in those crashes.

As a graduating senior at Tonawanda High School, John Gorman had an idea about what he wanted to pursue for his career, he just wasn’t entirely sure how to put his plan into action. He had just completed the auto tech program offered through Erie 1 BOCES, and he was quite good at it.

So good, in fact, that John and a classmate took part in the annual Niagara Frontier Auto Dealers Association/Ron Smith Memorial AutoTech Competition and finished in second place. That achievement led to the National Automotive Technology Competition in New York City, where the duo would finish in a very respectable seventh place against the strongest teams from across the country.