CarMax, Inc., a specialty retailer of used vehicles and Safe Smart Women, Inc. (S2W) announced that the CarMax Foundation has granted $100,000 to S2W, to advance S2W's driving safety campaign targeted to 16- to 26-year-old women in the Mid-Atlantic region.

"The grant from the CarMax Foundation will help S2W expand its efforts to bring young women drivers the vital information and training needed to keep them safe on our roads and highways," said S2W President Kristin Backstrom.

In the past 10 years, there have been significant changes in the driving population. NHTSA's recently released statistics show that fatal crash rates are at an all-time high and, for young women ages 15 to 20, the fatal crash rate has escalated by 42 percent since 1992.

"Nationally, young people represent less than 7 percent of the total driving population, but they are involved in nearly 15 percent of all fatal traffic crashes," says Backstrom.