TEEN DRIVING: 300 attend forum, seek safety solutions
Dana Tofig - Staff
Friday, December 15, 2000

Just four days ago, Ashlee Roberts' teenage girlfriend, Maegan Taylor, was in an accident. The car Maegan was riding in --- driven by another teenager --- ran off a dark road in Coweta County.

Thursday, Ashlee told a crowd in Peachtree City about her friend.

"My friend almost got killed (several) days ago," 16-year-old Ashlee said. "There's a hill that is fun to go over really fast. They were going about 85 (mph), swerved, over-corrected and hit a tree. She's ruined now, pretty much, for her senior year."

It was stories like this one that brought about 300 people together Thursday night at four metro Atlanta forums about teen driving. The meetings, sponsored by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, were held in Cobb, Gwinnett, Fayette and DeKalb counties and focused on how to reduce the number of teen driving accidents.

In a six-month period this year, 16 youths were killed in accidents involving 16-year-old drivers. The headlines have spurred debate on whether to restrict driving privileges for the youngest drivers. The forums revealed that there is unity of cause, but that the solutions are complex.

"I do not think it is an overreaching pronouncement that teen diving is in a state of crisis," said Newnan High School Principal Alan Wood. "We need to stop shoveling smoke and put out the fire."

Legislative solutions are varied --- raising the driving age, mandatory driver's education and strict curfews for 16- and 17-year-old drivers, to name a few. But at each forum, the responsibility for teaching and policing teen drivers fell squarely on the parents.

Beverly Collins, a Cobb County State Court judge said she is amazed how many citations are issued to teens in the early morning hours.

"Nobody needs to be on the road at 2:30 or 3:30 (a.m.) when they're 17 or 18 years old," said Collins, a panelist at the Cobb meeting.

"A lot of teenagers are spending the night at hotels or motels, apartments near Kennesaw State University or at a friend's house when the parents aren't home," she said. "You have many surprised parents."

Randy Lane, chief accident investigator for the Gwinnett County Police Department, said parents, educators and lawmakers have to find a solution together. But he added that parents shouldn't wait for the government to do something.

"How badly do we want our children to grow up?" Lane asked. "If it means taking my kid's driver's license to teach him a lesson, the state would have to beat me to it because I would do it first."

There already are a handful of bills waiting for the Legislature when state representatives and senators gather next month for the 2001 session. Many attendants and panelists seemed to feel more training for teen drivers, such as mandatory driver's education, was a good start.

Gary Butler, of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, advocated higher penalties for teenagers who don't buckle up. He told the DeKalb audience that at least 65 percent of teenage drivers fail to use safety belts.

"It's just a teen thing," he said. "It's part of being invincible."

Jennifer Brett, Paul Donsky, Henry Farber and Chandler M. Brown contributed to this report.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Across metro Atlanta, parents are struggling with the issue of teenage driving. Share your opinions, advice and strategies by e-mailing [email protected]. We will publish responses, so include your name, city and phone number for confirmation. (We won't publish phone numbers.)

LIMITS UNDER REVIEW
Teenagers could face tighter driving restrictions under proposals expected to be debated during the legislative session that begins Jan. 8. The initiatives likely to get the most attention include:
Legislation Gov. Roy Barnes said he may ask the General Assembly to approve that would raise the minimum driving age from 16 to 17 and require driver education. Barnes has declined to reveal details of the teen driving component of sweeping highway safety legislation he is considering.
A bipartisan package crafted by Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and Sen. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta). The proposal calls for expanding the curfew for teen drivers by two hours, requiring 40 hours of driver's education and having all driving tests be conducted on streets instead of in parking lots at licensing offices. Only one unrelated teen could be in a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old.