Teen 'not ready to drive' dies as passenger
REMEMBERING APRIL
Joey Ledford - Staff
Sunday, November 19, 2000

Even though April Ledford was 17, she didn't have a driver's license. She kept telling her parents she wasn't ready to drive.

Maybe part of the reason was that she had been a passenger in a crash several years ago. A man pulled out in front of the car in which she was riding with friends, and April, who was not wearing a seat belt, hit the windshield hard, suffering a mild concussion.

After that, said her parents, Mark and Vickie Boudreau of Covington, April always wore a seat belt. And they said she always obeyed their rule against riding with inexperienced teen drivers.

Except one time. And it cost her her life.

On Oct. 11, April piled into a 1996 Mercury Sable with three other Newton County High School students. The plan was to sneak up the road to a Burger King about a mile away for a quick lunch.

"My daughter died for a cheeseburger," said Vickie Boudreau.

The 18-year-old driver lost control on a curve on Ram Drive, crossed the median and collided with a pickup driven by a Newton High work study student.

Ledford (no relation to this writer) was the only passenger wearing a seat belt, yet she was the only person to die.

"Nobody can understand why April did not just unbuckle her seat belt and walk away," said her mother.

"It's the hand of God," said Mark Boudreau.

"God had a purpose," said Vickie. "I just need somebody to explain it."

The Boudreaus are angry at the school system because it couldn't stop the girls from slipping away. They also harbor bitterness toward the teen driver's family.

"People give their kids a car so they don't have to be inconvenienced," said Mark Boudreau.

"This was not an accident," said Vickie. "I don't want it to be addressed as an accident. It was a tragedy that has destroyed our lives."

The grieving parents describe April as an honor student who was a member of the 4-H Club and raised money for the March of Dimes. Her boyfriend is a Marine, and Vickie said she knows in her heart they would have married. April already had a wedding dress and a china set.

"Her whole goal was to graduate from high school and be a flight attendant," said her mother. "She was content to be home at night. Can you believe that?"

April, a junior, still rode the school bus to school.

"She told me, 'I'm not ready to drive,' " said Vickie. "I said, 'April, when you go to college, that yellow bus is not going to pick you up.' She said, 'I have next year' " to learn.

"She came to the realization that it is scary out there and she wasn't ready," said Mark. "And I agreed with her."

The Boudreaus believe parents need to spend a lot of time addressing that very question --- their teens' readiness to drive. "This stuff does happen whether you want to think about it or not," said Vickie. "Kids are getting in wrecks. They are getting disfigured and maimed and they are dying."

Mark made a courageous appearance on Neal Boortz's WSB talk show the day after April's death. He said he felt compelled to try to reach other parents facing decisions on teen driving. It's a message he feels should be heard.

"I needed to tell those parents . . . who are (wrestling) with the idea of buying that 16-year-old who just got the license a car," said Mark. "If you feel your kid is not ready, your kid is not ready.

"Don't do it --- for your kid . . . and for mine," he said.

More than a month after April's death, the Boudreaus continue to struggle with the grief that they've been told by other parents never goes away.

"Even my birthday, we shared," Mark said of the teenager he raised. "Mine is March 1, hers is March 2. We shared them every year. Now, even that has been taken away from me."

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