By Bethany Bray
Staff Writer
March 06, 2008 05:00 am Remember how it felt when you finally — finally! — got your license and slid behind the wheel for your first "grown-up" drive? Here's how to help your kids remember the day with the same sense of joy. A seminar for teens and parents at Masconomet High School is designed to teach safe driving habits. The forum, Keeping our Teens Safer on the Road, will be March 17 in the high school cafeteria. Organized by the Tri-town Council on Youth and Family Services and Masconomet's Social and Emotional Development Advisory Council, it features speakers familiar with the dangers of teen driving. Speakers, including local police, will explain the complicated rules surrounding a junior operators license — those given to drivers under the age of 18. The floor will be opened to questions and discussion on a subject on which parents and children don't always see eye to eye. "There is such a high rate of accidents in first year of driving. It's a high-stakes scenario, and we want kids to be safe and responsible," said Lisa Teichner, community programs coordinator for the Tri-town Council. "It will provide a platform for parents to have a conversation with their teens. It's a program for both teens and parents, and will hopefully help form that conversation." Teichner noted that car accidents are the No. 1 killer of teens, with nearly 50 percent of all teen deaths automobile related. Driving is a rite of passage to adulthood, she said, but having a license is a privilege, not a right. The evening's discussion will include "What happens when you're texting (on a cell phone) and driving? Applying makeup and driving? Being distracted with a car full of kids?" — all common occurrences with most teenage drivers, said Teichner. Guest speakers will include Dan Strollo, a driving instructor at In Control Advanced Driving Training, a Weymouth-based company that has a training site in North Andover, and Boxford police Officer Dave Barker, Masconomet's school resource officer. State Rep. Brad Hill will explaining the junior operators drivers license. The junior license carries many stipulations, including a curfew and passenger requirements. Hill was instrumental in getting a bill passed in March 2007, which more than doubled fines for speeding for those with a junior operators license. In order for teens under 18 to get a license, 12 hours behind the wheel with a driving instructor are now required, instead of six; as well as 40 documented hours of parents riding along with their kids, increased from 12 hours. Under Hill's new law, parents also have to take two hours of driver education. The safe-driving forum is free to the public and is deigned for parents and teenagers, said Teichner. Last spring, the Tri-town Council hosted a forum and discussion on teens, drugs and alcohol. The Masconomet community is not immune to driving dangers, said Teichner, and many Masconomet students have cars and drive themselves to school. Amanda Reyes, a member of the Masconomet Class of 2006, was injured in a crash with two other vehicles on East Street in Middleton the day of her graduation rehearsal — two days before the ceremony. The accident triggered an outpouring of concern in the community. At her graduation, Amanda's younger sisters, Stephanie and Monica, accepted her diploma. Amanda's mother, Jennifer Reyes, is a math teacher at Masconomet. The accident — in which Amanda suffered a bruised brain but barely a visible scratch — left her in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital and later in rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
Keeping Our Teens Safer on the Road, a forum for parents and teens When: Monday, March 17, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Where: Masconomet cafeteria, 20 Endicott Road, Topsfield How: Free and open to parents, guardians and students in high school. For information, contact Lisa Teichner, community programs coordinator for the Tri-town Council, at 978-887-6512 or lteichner@yahoo.com
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Sobering statistics Motor vehicle accidents are the No. 1 killer of teens in this country. Teenage drivers are four times more likely to be killed and 14 times more likely to be injured than any other age group. By 2-1, teens are more likely to kill someone riding with them than themselves. The main causes of teen driving fatalities are speed and inexperience. Source: Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles
Junior operator laws No passengers under 18 for the first six months unless accompanied in the front seat by a 21-year-old. (Immediate family members can ride with the driver.) No driving between 12:30 and 5 a.m. Beginning Sept. 1, must have 12 hours behind the wheel with a driving instructor and 40 hours with parental supervision before getting junior operator's license. Also, written exam required. Increased penalties for speeding and drag racing, including license suspension, fines, mandatory education programs and other penalties. — Staff writer Steve Landwehr
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