DS,
You're right on the money again, for the 889th time...
We lost two teens in my city just two nights ago and I'm continuously reading about this issue in the metro Denver area alone. And I can't begin to tell you how many children from my kid's high school we've lost in the last 2-3 years.
Sammie, I hadn't heard about those two deaths. I'll have to look in the
Denver Post to find out what happened. I remember a couple from late last year, just a couple weeks apart, too.
My high school class lost two people that I can remember. One was a two-car collision, similar to DS' story, if my memory serves. The accident happened at night, of course. Somebody wasn't paying attention--forget which party now--and the car my classmate was in flipped two or three times (she wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was ejected. I BELIEVE the car rolled over her). Fifty feet south of the intersection, the speed limit goes to 55 (open space preservation).
The other was a drug overdose. I knew the guy from a class but we didn't travel in the same "social circles" (what a cliche). Unfortunately, I forget what he OD'd on. THEN, about two months after his death, his girlfriend at the time tried to kill HERSELF by swallowing a bottle of Flintstone's Vitamins!!! She was a friend, albeit a strange relationship. The other two deaths were people I'd known only in passing. She disappeared for about 2 months for treatment. Mutual friends told me what had happened.
The vehicular incident made me think about some stuff, particularly seatbelt safety. I remember thinking to myself after watching some kind of "Seatbelt Safety" Video in Driver's Ed that EVERY passenger in my car would buckle or exit the vehicle. I got my license and told my folks the same day, "I'm not driving kids that don't buckle their belts." My folks nodded. A couple months later, I agreed to drop kids off at the pool. One of my passengers steadfastly refused to fasten a belt. I put the car in park, released my belt, PULLED the punk out of the van, brought him inside kicking and screaming and deposited him in front of our mother. She was aghast. I told her, "He refused to fasten his belt." She claimed it was no excuse to haul him in like that. She turned to tell him to go back out and put his belt on. I told her, "Don't bother. He's not getting into a vehicle I'm driving. I'm not driving him anywhere the rest of the Summer, either." She wasn't pleased. She threatened me with my license and my insurance. I pulled her keys from my pocket, dropped them on the table and answered, "I'M the one that get's the ticket. NOT HIM AND CERTAINLY NOT YOU!! I'm NOT getting screamed at for passenger safety and/or irresponsibility! Cancel my insurance. I'm not driving if this is how its gonna be." She told my brother, "Guess what? He's right. You stay here." He was ENRAGED! Dad comes home, my brother tells him what happened and
I get screamed at. I calmly answered, "I'm not driving kids around that won't be safe. Just like a captain, my passengers' safety is MY responsibility. I'll surrender my license, keys and insurance NOW if you won't back me up." Dad was quiet for a moment, thinking. He admitted, "Good point. If you're stopped for one of my kids not being buckled, I'll pay the ticket. I won't hold you accountable for the insurance increase, either. It's not your fault my kids don't buckle." Our folks had a heart-to-heart that night about belts. I saw our mother throw the SAME kid out of the van a week later for not buckling! The refusal to buckle changed in a hurry!
Another new driver story...two weeks later, I was driving a sedan full of kids--four passengers and myself--home when the kids decided it'd be cool to "rattle" the driver. They were pinging the top of the car. Annoying and a distraction I didn't need in heavy traffic. I made the oldest one causing trouble walk about a mile home. Our folks were appalled. I threw my keys on the table, quite upset and said, "New rule. I only drive four people around in my car--driver and three passengers--two people in front, two in back. I'm also not driving X and Y around. They caused a safety hazard today." I told our folks the entire story and Dad's face turned LIVID. He grabbed his keys, stormed out of the house, picked up the kid I'd dropped off and screamed him deaf. No more problems. He came home and gestured me into a room. He said, "If you EVER have another problem with a passenger being unsafe, you pull that car
over and
CALL me. Its possible you'll leave a passenger at a McDonalds for me or your mother to come pick up. I need to get on this before there's an accident caused by a passenger generated distraction. Driving distractions are bad enough. New drivers need all their attention focused on the road, not the passenger compartment."
I saw somewhere, at some point, that passenger distractions are the cause of a "large" percentage of new driver accidents. My family--knock on wood--hasn't had a collision caused by passenger distraction. -Rocky