Nov 5, 2002 3 min read

On the front page of yesterday’s edition was a story with the headline “Young drivers comprise most speeding deaths.” The hard, cold numbers compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 12, which includes Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties for just five years 1996 through 2001 show this: 8,062 people were involved in speed-related crashes. Drivers ages 16 to 25 accounted for nearly half those accidents. Those accidents left 157 people dead, 84 – or 57 percent – were 16 to 25 years old.

But those are just the numbers. And unfortunately statistics don’t mean much to the invincible young driver.

Sadly in the same edition on the classified page, was an annual reminder of just how deadly a young speeding driver can be. On Nov. 4, 1994 two Frazier Middle School students Rhiannon Krukowsky and Jennifer Hennessey were passengers in a car that went out of control. The driver was prosecuted for vehicular homicide. The tragedy of two young lives gone in an instant never goes away from the family and friends of these teens. As the memorial tribute says, “You hear all this talk of closure… When the core of your life is blown out like the core of a building there are no doors left to close.”

Rhiannon and Jennifer would be young women today, most likely finishing up college, embarking on careers and planning families of their own.

Have their deaths or those of the 84 young men and women who died on our highways during the past five years reminded their former classmates to slow down and be careful out there?

Kids never think accidents will happen to them as they hastily speed from one task the next. Caution comes with experience and with driving there is no substitute for time behind the wheel encountering an array of weather conditions, obstacles and other drivers.

In December, Pennsylvania will mark the third anniversary of provisions enacted to ensure young drivers gain some experience before hitting the road solo. Requirements attached to the learner’s permit now require at least a six-month waiting period (rather than just 30 days) between receiving a permit and gaining a license. The provision that was expected to have the most effect was a requirement that a teen log 50 hours behind-the-wheel building experience.

The state leaves it up to parents to certify and attest that teens have actually accumulated this instruction time.

Now that a couple years data have been accumulated, PennDOT should analyze whether changes to the permit process has helped in producing better prepared drivers or if more work is still needed. In the meantime parents still provide the first line of defense in ensuring their kids build up their skills and learn to practice defensive driving.