Fewer teens die in car accidents under new rule
Teenage drivers are dying far less frequently on North Carolina highways since a restricted licensing program for new drivers was implemented in 1997.
In fact, safety researchers say, fatalities among 16-year-old rookie drivers have dropped by 34 percent during that time.
But troopers with the Highway Patrol, like other law officers throughout the state, can cite chilling statistics of their own that show teenagers behind the wheel are still four times as likely as older drivers to become involved in deadly accidents. And every trooper has seen the up-close, grisly evidence of what high speeds and inexperience can produce on the roadway.
"You've got drivers from age 16 to 19 who haven't been made aware of just how dangerous driving is," said Trooper T.J. Carter, the investigating officer in an accident early last Sunday in southeast Greensboro that left two teenagers dead and injured two others, including 16-year-old driver Joshua Daniel Pearman.
That accident, like too many other fatal wrecks involving teenagers, was directly related to driving too fast, Carter said.
Pearman's SUV was traveling 70 mph to 75 mph in a 45 mph zone when it left the road, crossed the center line and crashed into a wall at Blakeshire Road and Shady Maple Drive, according to a Highway Patrol report.
No charges have been filed; Pearman is still recovering from his injuries at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.
"Fatal accidents are largely because of speed," Carter said. "They think these cars are toys. They don't pay attention to speed-limit signs or take care in changing lanes. They're just driving."
Unfortunately, last Sunday's deadly accident is part of an all-too-common pattern. No North Carolina county -- from urban Mecklenberg, Wake or Guilford, to rural Caswell or Dare -- is immune from the numbing shock evoked when teenagers die in an accident, usually one of their own making. The grief counseling offered last week to students at Southeast High School has become a frequent, if not so welcome, visitor in many Tar Heel school systems.
According to the National Safety Council, the nation's 9.5 million drivers under the age of 20 accounted for just 4.8 percent of U.S. drivers but were involved in 22.1 percent of all wrecks and 17 percent of all fatal wrecks in 2003.
The trend in North Carolina is equally alarming; more than 200 of the state's 1,500 wreck victims in 2003 were teens.
But the numbers may not be quite so grim as those in a USA Today study that last week ranked North Carolina as the worst state in the union for teenage traffic deaths.
Disputing those figures are researchers with the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, who say USA Today badly undercounted the number of young drivers in the state.
"The result is, they made North Carolina look much worse than it is,'' said Arthur Goodwin, a senior research associate.
In fact, Goodwin said, crashes are down substantially for young drivers over the past seven years, since the advent of the graduated licensing system for teenagers. A graduated license restricts the times of day rookies can drive, the number of passengers they can carry and the level of supervision they must have from an experienced driver.
"If you compare the first couple of years before the graduated licenses were introduced, death rates for 16-year-olds are down by 34 percent," Goodwin said. "For 17-year-olds, it's down 21 percent. And fatalities are down; we were averaging 55 fatalities a year before the graduated licenses; now we're down to about 30. In the highway safety field, we consider the program to be a huge success."
But try telling that to grieving parents or the officers who show up at the scenes of fatal teenage wrecks. Pearman, the driver in last Sunday's accident, had advanced to the third level of the graduated licensing program and thus faced no driving restrictions.
The facts are clear, said Lt. Everett Clendenin, a Highway Patrol spokesman.
"Young people are killing themselves out on the highway," Clendenin said. "The (Highway) Patrol was pleased with and supported the graduated licensing law. We understand teenage fatalities are dropping because of that law. But we still need to do more."
A prime factor, he said, is the "no fear" factor in many teens.
"They just don't have enough fear when they drive too fast or do other unsafe things on the road," he said. "They don't think about the consequences of driving recklessly. They don't think that people can get killed."
Much of the necessary education must be administered by parents who teach defensive driving and good habits behind the wheel, Clendenin said.
Many parents, such as Debbie Bowman of Asheboro, agree. Bowman says she has a 16-year-old daughter now behind the wheel.
"Every time she gets in that car and drives off, I say a prayer for her that she reaches her destination safely and gets back home safely," she said.
"We remind her on a daily basis to be careful. Stay alert. Stay focused on what she is doing behind the wheel because it only takes one foolish move to change a life or lives forever."
Sharon Shepard of Jamestown says her two daughters are only 6 and 8 -- far from driving age. But after last week's wreck, she began talking traffic safety with them.
"I saw this as a 'teachable' moment," Shepard said. "We discussed seatbelt use and the idea that it is OK for them to tell a driver to pull over and let them out of a car if they don't think they are in a safe situation. I also explained why I will worry about them when they are teenagers and go out riding with their friends.
"Maybe they will remember this in a few years when their time comes to make such decisions.''
-Tom Steadman