5 teens killed in wrecks amid safety campaign

Five teens have died in traffic crashes across the commonwealth since Oct. 18, even as insurance officials, police and educators were observing National Teen Driver Safety Week.

Three teens died Sunday, the first day of the safety week, which continues through today. The fatalities occurred in Amherst, Augu-sta, Gloucester, Lee and Loudoun counties and included a 15-year-old passenger, a 16-year-old driver, two 17-year-old drivers and an 18-year-old passenger, Virginia State Police said.

“It is disheartening and frustrating to see such loss of life involving our young people,” said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, state police superintendent.

So far this year, 77 teens have died in crashes, compared with 92 in all of 2007.

The deaths since Oct. 18 underscored efforts by area officials to take safe-driving messages into the community and area high schools.

The fatalities come after studies by insurance officials that show a decade-long decline in teen deaths that they attribute to graduated licensing laws and educational efforts.

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows teen traffic deaths dropped from 9,940 in 1978 to a 30-year low of 5,156 in 2006.

The same study shows the traffic-related death rate for those 13 to 19 declined by 41 percent, from 29 to 17 per 100,000. That compares with declines of 27 percent for ages 20 to 69 (from 22 to 16 per 100,000) and 34 percent for people 70 and older (from 26 to 17 per 100,000).

Official: New rules work

“That’s the area where there’s a lot of good news, because teen deaths and crashes have dropped significantly over the past 10 years,” said Russ Rader, institute spokesman. “Much of that has happened since states, like Virginia, passed graduated driver’s licensing laws.”

Virginia instituted a graduated license for teenagers in 2001 after a spate of teen deaths in wrecks in Northern Virginia. Virginia law requires teens to take an approved driver education course and hold a learner’s permit for at least nine months.

With few exceptions, licensed teens under 18 are prohibited from driving between midnight and 4 a.m. Those under 18 are prohibited from having more than one minor as a passenger for the first year they are licensed. After that year, drivers younger than 18 are restricted to no more than three minors in the car at one time.

Rader said statistics show that fatal crash rates for 16-year-olds have dropped 48 percent from 1996 to 2006, compared with 25 percent for 17-year-olds and 18 percent for 18-year-olds. During the same period, rates fell 16 percent for persons between 30 and 59.

“That restriction has made a big difference because too many teens in a car can turn into a mobile party,” Rader said. “Drivers may lose focus and not pay as close attention to safe driving techniques. Many don’t believe that bad things can happen to them.”

Gary Albert, an Albemarle County State Farm insurance agent involved in driver education, said nearly 40 percent of deaths among 13- to 19-year-olds in the United States are caused by wrecks.

“Car crashes are still the leading cause of death. Children are four times more likely to die in a car crash than adults,” Albert said.

Cpl. Sean Hackney, of the Albemarle County police traffic unit, is an investigator on the county’s accident reconstruction team, which investigates fatal and serious wrecks. He said the 2001 licensing changes are a safety success.

“I remember when kids were out at all hours of the day and night and there’s not much good that you can get into at 2 o’clock in the morning with a car full of people,” he said. “The curfew and passenger limits are a great change in the old law and have definitely served their purpose. It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal until you realize that there were 12,000 murders in the country last year and 41,000 traffic deaths.”

Flaherty, of the state police, agreed.

“We want to remind young drivers that getting behind the wheel of a car is not something that should be taken lightly. Inexperience and age are already working against them on the road, so driving defensively and without distractions are necessities for all teens,” he said.

Education effort

That’s why more driver education programs are focusing on students and parents, Albert said. Among those is a State Farm-sponsored seminar at Albemarle County schools that parents must attend prior to their children receiving their license.

“So much has changed in the way driver education is being taught from when we were in school and in the way licenses are granted, and the seminar brings parents up to date,” Albert said.

Making the rounds of high schools for teen driver safety week is not just a professional matter for Albert. It’s personal.

“When I was in school I had several friends killed in car wrecks and I drove by one that a friend was in,” he recalled. “I still remember that feeling and that’s the feeling I’m hoping to help others avoid.”