Teen Death Toll in Crashes Spirals Up

[mahatmakanejeeves]

A principal, on TV last night, lamented that the school system had dropped driver's ed.

"No Child Left Behind"

Teen Death Toll in Crashes Spirals Up

Teen Death Toll in Crashes Spirals Up
17-Year-Old Dies in Montgomery, the Seventh Victim in Md. in Recent Days

By Daniel de Vise and Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 13, 2007; Page A01

The silver Toyota Corolla carrying 17-year-old Christian Cruz and three friends on a midnight food run swerved off a slick Montgomery County road and hit an elm tree early yesterday, making him the seventh suburban Maryland teenager to die in a traffic accident in little more than a week. Neither Cruz nor any of his 15-year-old friends in the Corolla was licensed to drive.

Hours after Cruz's death, mourners gathered in La Plata and Fort Washington to eulogize two victims of an earlier wreck. Four students from La Plata High School were killed Nov. 6 when the teenage driver of the car they were in, speeding, overcorrected and spun into the path of a sport-utility vehicle.

The cycle of grief recalls fall 2004, when 15 young people died in the span of a month in Washington area crashes involving teenage drivers. A Maryland law enacted in response to those deaths could have prevented two of the most recent wrecks -- including the one that killed Cruz -- if the teens had obeyed it.

[DCKit]

1. When their role models are slutty, drunken personalities, what should we expect from them? nt

[cali]

2. It's a whole culture.

By the time my now 21 year old son, was sixteen, he had lost 3 first cousins (same crash), his best friend, and 4 other acquaintances/friends to fatal accidents. For a couple of years it felt like we were going to wakes and funerals on a monthly basis. The problem at the hs he attended was so pronounced, that Garret Keizer of Harper's magazine (who used to teach there) wrote a novel about it called "The God of Beer". Of course, we live very close to the Canadian border, and it's a right of passage almost for kids to cross the border to drink on their 18th birthday.

[OzarkDem]

5. Heavy marketing by alcohol manufacturers to teens

its gotten very bad, worse than tobacco companies.

[DemoTex]

7. Don't forget CELLPHONES.

My guess is cellphones play a roll in a large number of teen car crashes.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. Another factor in teen driving accidents in our area is that

the teens are driving little sports cars that have too much speed and power for their driving experience.

[OzarkDem]

3. No driver's ed, no phys ed

Public education is failing kids today.

[Mike Daniels]

9. When are schools obligated to offer driver's ed?

I took classes through a commercial instructor and so did most of my friends.

Given that you have to pass a a written and behind the wheel test to even get a license I would think anyone with a license would have a basic understanding of driving safety.

[CRF450]

10. The problem with drivers ed is...

It doens't teach teens how to actually handle a car in emergancy situations, plus theirs the lack of experience, and distractions (mainly cellphones). The schools in my area has it, but we still have alot of teen related accidents, most of which happens from racing/speeding or not paying attention.

My dad had me take one of those special courses for driving, They actually teach you how to handle a car and its been a life saver for me a few times in avoiding accidents and staying in control of the vehicle.

If more teens take the course that I did, their would be less accidents.

[DemoTex]

4. Greenville New (SC) headline today: "3 students killed in wreck."

The 16-year old driver's Chevy SUV collided with a pickup truck yesterday. The young driver and a 16 year old passenger and a 17 year old passenger were killed in the wreck.

[Benhurst]

6. This following another gruesome teenage crash the week before.

[MedleyMisty]

11. A young cousin of mine died in a car wreck

She was going way over the speed limit and not wearing a seat belt, so it's not like it wasn't unexpected or unpreventable.

I often wonder if people who drive like that want to die or want to kill others.

[cali]

12. I don't think so. Not when it's young people.

It's about the sense of immortality that teens have.

[babydollhead]

13. four friends of mine in high school died in crash

a few of us visited each family, and the mother of the driver said, "She asked me, 'what's the sense of having a license, if you aren't going to let me drive?" so she did. and they all died. my own son,has friends a year older, one of whom got his license and that same day called the crew and asked if they wanted to drive around with him. the boys all declined, but our son pushed it, would we let him go? I said no. I decided if he wants to be mad at me, he can get to be a full grown man and an old man and still be mad. at least he'd be alive. My lover died seven years later than my friends, he was 26, sideswiped and killed by 3 drunk teenagers, of which, two also died.

[DangerDave921]

14. Be honest

It's not No Child Left Behind. It's speeding, alcohol, and cell phones that cause the accidents. When you try to blame Bush for even something like this, it just dilutes the genuine criticisms.

The biggest change I can think of the past 10 years is cell phones. So many people yakking on them while driving. Even adults have a tough time doing it while driving. Teenagers, who are speeding and talking to their friends, are not prepared for it.

I advocate strict restrictions on the number of passengers in a car; and the use of cell phones by a teenager. One violation and bam - no license till age 21.

Deaths of kids is not something we should accept as the cost of doing business.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. good points

I was wondering if, due to NCLB, driver's ed had been dropped to make way for teaching to the test. It may be the case there's a school board mentality of placing so much priority on passing scores on those tests that other courses and activities in HS are being jettisoned.

I should not have left the impression that GWB was the proximal cause of the deaths.

I drive a motorcycle, so I am aware that it is not possible to talk on a cellphone or, worse, send and receive text messages, and devote sufficient attention to driving.

It could be the case that most of the recent crashes in the DC area involve multiple teenage passengers in the vehicle. I don't know the specifics, but I think this is prohibited in all the local jurisdictions.

Thanks for writing.

[tammywammy]

15. When I was in high school

They offered a summer driver's ed, you paid for it. It was around the same price as all the other driver's ed places. I ended up taking it somewhere else, b/c I had to take it at night to accommodate my parent's work schedule.

My first car accident I was 16. I was stupid, speeding, not paying attention and I had 3 friends in the car too. I ran a red light and hit someone. I was scared to death. Being young you have that sense of immortality and with the more use of cell phones while driving, it doesn't surprise me that there are more car accidents involving teen drivers.