Slow down, says family
of girl killed in car crash

By Andrea Jones
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

Mark and Vicki Boudreau knew their 17-year-old daughter, April Ledford, wasn't ready to get behind the wheel of a car.

So they thought they were doing all the right things to keep her safe. They told her she couldn't get her driver's license and insisted that she always wear a seat belt.

It wasn't enough.

Ledford, a passenger in a car driven by a classmate at Newton High School in Covington, died Wednesday in a two-vehicle collision that also left four other students injured, one of them critically. Ledford was the only passenger wearing a seat belt.

Police believe speed was a factor in the accident.

On Thursday, Ledford's parents and other relatives begged parents and teens to learn from the tragedy. "Teenagers need to wake up and keep their foot off that gas pedal," said Ledford's aunt, Sharon Rose, sobbing as she and family members picked up the teen's belongings at the school. "Inexperience and immaturity kills."

Just hours before the family's call for young people to slow down, Georgia State Patrol troopers pulled over several students who were speeding on the same road where the deadly crash occurred. Trooper Scott Edmonson stopped one male student who was driving his pickup more than 10 miles over the 35-mph speed limit.

"Teenagers don't realize just how dangerous it is out here," said Newton High junior Aimee Anthony. "There are bad consequences for driving too fast."

The Newton accident is the latest in a string of fatal wrecks in metro Atlanta involving teenage drivers and their adolescent passengers. At least 22 teens have been killed in such incidents during the past year.

Gov. Roy Barnes said last week he would support an effort to make driver's education mandatory if it were offered after school and funded with the tuition paid by students who take the class. And state Sen. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) has indicated he'll try again to tighten restrictions on teen drivers during next year's General Assembly. On Thursday, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor said he's asked the state Department of Public Safety to estimate the cost of beefing up the written and practical portions of driver's license tests. Gary Butler, regional program manager for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's Atlanta office, said most young people aren't mature enough to handle driving with their peers. And the more friends they pile in a car, the higher the chances of an accident, he said.

Police said Jennifer Kitzero, 18, and three female students were driving on Ram Drive when Kitzero lost control of her silver Mercury Sable on a curve, crossed the median and slammed into a pickup driven by Louis Scott Strickland, 18. Ledford was in the front passenger seat of Kitzero's vehicle. The two other girls were in the back seat.

Newton Principal J.W. Rutledge said the four girls had left school without permission during their lunch period and were on their way back from a fast food restaurant when the accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Kitzero suffered serious head injuries and was taken by helicopter to Atlanta Medical Center. She was listed in critical condition Thursday night. The other students were treated at Newton General Hospital.

Thirty counselors and clergy members were at the school Thursday to help students deal with their grief. "We're just trying to tend to the emotional needs of our students," Rutledge said.

Mark Boudreau, Ledford's stepfather, took to radio airwaves early Thursday to urge other parents not to allow teens behind the wheel of a car before they are mature enough to drive.

"The life you save may be your own child," he told WSB radio host Neal Boortz. "You don't think it will happen to you, but the next thing you know, you get a phone call and it is happening to you."

Ledford was the second teenage member of her family to be involved in a serious accident in less than a week. Relatives said her sister, Nellie, is recovering from injuries sustained last week in a car crash in Missouri.

Staff writers Add Seymour Jr. and Jim Galloway contributed to this article.