Are we pushing teens behind the wheel?
North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
I can attest to this because that’s why my husband and I have long lived in
Encinitas and raised two sons there. However, the biggest danger to our
children …

One reason families move to the suburbs is to get away from the perceived dangers to their children of big-city life: drugs, crime and inadequate schools. I can attest to this because that’s why my husband and I have long lived in Encinitas and raised two sons there.

However, the biggest danger to our children is something many suburban parents unwittingly bring upon themselves. After all, the No. 1 killer of young people is not disease, but teen driving.

That was literally driven home to me by three serious car accidents that the Sheriff’s Department says were the fault of teenage males at the wheel —- all in a one-month span.

On Jan. 4, an allegedly drunken 17-year-old crashed a rented mini-van into a tree in Olivenhain and was found unconscious at the scene.

A day later, another young driver, allegedly driving a large pickup at about 85 miles per hour on Highway 101 in Encinitas, slammed his car into another vehicle and instantly killed the 29-year-old local man driving it.

On Jan. 31, a 17-year-old San Dieguito Academy student lost control of his truck, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The vehicle fatally pinned a fellow San Dieguito student to a concrete column in the freeway underpass on Santa Fe Drive. Deputies are investigating whether the driver was menacing other students walking during the lunch hour.

Residents wrote about the accidents in e-mails to the North County Times Web site (www.nctimes.com). Some blamed the drivers, others their parents.

I don’t know the drivers or their families, and can’t claim direct knowledge of the accidents.

But I do know this: Many North County parents work hard to support their children in pursuit of the good life. And there are no school buses for many students in Encinitas to ride to the public high schools. Consequently, some parents believe they must buy cars for their teens to commute to school —- as soon as they get their driver’s licenses.

The student parking lots at La Costa Canyon and the San Dieguito Academy routinely overflow with a number of large cars and SUVs, a veritable fleet of multiton, potentially lethal weapons.

I asked my sons, ages 20 and 16, for their thoughts on these accidents and their answers surprised me.

Each told me that I had pushed him a bit to get a driver’s license, before he was quite ready. I admit that I was looking to make it easier for me to work full time and earn more money after years of keeping a reduced, mommy-track schedule.

And each told me in separate conversations that most teenagers drive dangerously, their parents seemingly oblivious.

My wake-up call on the dangers of teen drivers came from a column by respected New York Times health writer Jane Brody. It ran on the cover of our Feb. 11 Health section. It offered concrete suggestions for parents to reduce driving risks for their children, such as drawing up a driving contract, monitoring their driving diligently and withdrawing driving privileges if the contract is broken.

One North County deputy who works traffic told me he knows it’s hard for parents to shuttle teens around. But he said parents should find after-school activities for their high-school-aged children and delay when they get licenses: “Hold on to that as long as you can.”

So I have to ask myself and my neighbors: Are we letting convenience override our better judgment?