My heart aches for the family members and friends of all the young people involved in fatal car crashes the past few years since the law regarding newly licensed drivers came into effect.
I am not placing blame on anyone; after all, these were tragic accidents. But please, parents and friends of new drivers, adhere to the law that was made for the safety of newly licensed drivers.
This law states that newly licensed drivers cannot carry passengers under the age of 20 until they have been licensed six months (for more information, visit the DOL Web site at (http://www.dol.wa.gov/ds/intermed.htm). The only exception to the law is if the passenger is an immediate family member.
The other part of this law says newly licensed drivers are not to be driving between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. unless with a licensed driver over the age of 25.
I am the parent of two teenage drivers, and I am disappointed at the number of parents of new drivers who seem to ignore this law. I am writing to persuade all parents of newly licensed drivers to please enforce the law set out to protect our children and others on the road.
When I first read about this law and why it had been enacted, I was shocked. The statistics were staggering. If I remember correctly, it stated that a new driver had a 50 percent increased chance of an injury or fatal accident with every additional passenger in the car. What that means is that with one extra person in the car, the odds for an accident were increased by 50 percent; with two extra people, odds increased by 100; with three extra, 150 percent; and so on.
As an adult, I know the distractions of having children in the car, but as a parent I also have many more years of driving experience under my belt.
I know you have all heard it before; so-and-so's parent lets her stay out until whenever, and so-and-so's parent doesn't care if he drives with passengers before the six month preliminary driver's license restriction is removed. My children have argued that they are good drivers. This is a fact I will confirm for them, but I also tell them that is not the point.
The point is that there is a law that was made to protect us all from the increased accident rate for new drivers carrying passengers.
I realize that with the busy schedules we all suffer, a new driver in the family can be a welcome relief. However, with that added driver should come a heightened respect for the laws put in place to ensure their safety.
We have raised and protected our precious children, and now they are 16 and driving a 2,000-pound piece of steel at high speeds while chatting with friends, adjusting the volume of their music, perhaps even talking on a cell phone.
Please take a moment every few days to remind them of the responsibility they have undertaken in obtaining their driver's license - responsibility to themselves, their passengers and the rest of us out there on the road. Please encourage them to follow the law. This will be something they should do for the rest of their lives.
And remember, this is a law, not a suggestion; all of us should follow the law at all times, not just when it suits us or is convenient to do so. There is no gray area here; you are either following a law or breaking it.
Parents, don't give your children permission to break this law, or any others.[[In-content Ad]]
