Fast cars, teen-agers can be deadly couple

MY TEENAGE son was overcome with sadness last week. He tried not to show it, but a parent can always tell.

He'd just learned that a former high school classmate had been killed in an automobile accident -- two months after graduating.

The young man was driving a car full of teen-agers after 2 a.m. when he lost control while making a turn and ran into a tree. His four passengers were sent to Shock Trauma and were recovering, but the driver's life ended after 19 short years.

The young man had become close to my 17-year-old, who is entering his senior year. (My other son also is going into his senior year, and my daughter is a new sophomore, but they didn't know him well.)

The driver had befriended my 17-year-old with his magnetic personality. He'd made my son feel comfortable in a new school. He tried to complete a love connection between my kid and a girl. The two had laughed together, played basketball together.

The death hurt him -- badly. Hurt me, too.

This was not the first time my child had seen closely -- much too closely for comfort -- how dangerous driving a car can be. Less than a year ago, one of his former basketball teammates was paralyzed when thrown from a vehicle after the teen-age driver he was riding with lost control on a dangerous curve.

In both cases, the driver was speeding.

Everybody knows that teen-age boys love fast cars. Youngsters who grow up with Hot Wheels progress to sporty imports with mag wheels. Want to get adolescent boys into the movies? Show a film with Tom Cruise racing along a curvy, two-lane road at 120 miles an hour but handling that impossible mission with ease.

When they become eligible for learner's permits at 15 years and nine months (in Maryland), adolescent males move to the starting line. When the Motor Vehicle Administration employee hands them the licenses, it's time to drag.

I was there, racing through city streets at age 16, 17, 18 and 19 -- the most dangerous years. I was lucky that I didn't hurt myself or anyone else while acquiring experience and good sense.

Adolescent males spend a lot of time trying to impress one another. That's probably why they are more likely to become involved in a fatal crash when they have passengers than when driving alone, according to a Johns Hopkins School of Public Health study released in March.

Researchers found that 16- or 17-year-olds with three passengers are three times as likely to become involved in fatal crashes as those driving alone.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that car crashes are the leading cause of death among teen-agers in the United States. About 5,500 teen-age drivers and passengers died in motor vehicle accidents each year.

Passengers sometimes test a driver's bravado, challenging the young motorist to run red lights or take curves too fast. It's another potentially lethal game of chicken. Having passengers is distracting enough for young drivers.

Nine states restrict teen-age drivers from carrying young passengers until they gain experience, but not Maryland. State legislators here worry that double dates would be voted out of existence.

The General Assembly may have to revisit that if the state's current effort fails to reduce deaths among teen-age drivers and passengers.

So we should closely watch the MVA's Rookie Driver program, which requires new drivers to spend 40 hours behind the wheel with a "supervisor," usually a parent. Drivers also must have a learner's permit for four months, completed an approved driver education course and maintained a conviction-free record.

This system requires new drivers to get experience before hitting the road unsupervised.

My son's friend and his former basketball teammate had their licenses before the tougher system went into effect last year. State officials say there's not enough data yet to show whether the Rookie Driver program is working, but I'm somewhat encouraged by a brief visit to the MVA's Glen Burnie office.

Two MVA examiners said they were convinced that the experience is making a difference.

"They're doing better," said one examiner, referring to young drivers who have come through the tougher licensing system.

"They have better control," said the other instructor. "And I'm sure the pass-fail rate is up."

My wife and I made both our sons wait until age 17 before getting their permits, hoping that a year's life experience would make them enter the road as more mature, sensible drivers. After waiting a year, our 17-year-old wasn't too happy about having to go through the Rookie Driver program (our 18-year-old got in just under the wire). I'm about halfway through the 40 hours of supervised driving with the younger kid.

I think both experiences will help -- life's and the road's. But adolescent machismo is sure to make both my young drivers go against their better judgment from time to time.

"The thing is," said one of the driving examiners, "you can't control people's attitudes, no matter what you do to make them more experienced. It doesn't matter."

That's where luck comes in.

Norris West writes editorials for The Sun from Anne Arundel County.