Ria Harrilal has an 18-year-old daughter who is learning to
drive and a 13-year-old
daughter who hopes to learn to drive in a couple of years. Ria Harrilal is not
happy
about this.

“I don’t like to have young teenagers out on the road,” says
the Rosedale
resident. “Some of the things those teenagers do _ it’s ridiculous.”

So far, Harrilal says 18-year-old Kalina has done OK on the road. But if her

daughter slips up _ if she gets home late or if Harrilal hears she’s been
driving
recklessly _ the punishment will be swift and sure, Harrilal vows. “Her
car keys will
be taken away,” she says. “That’s just the way it is.”

Ria Harrilal is not alone. Frightened by a spate of fatal car accidents involving

teenage drivers, parents and elected, school and law enforcement officials
throughout Maryland have mounted what seems to be a coordinated effort to
restrict and enlighten youthful drivers.

In Howard County, County Executive Jim Robey, schools Superintendent
Sydney Cousin and Police Chief Wayne Livesay earlier this year announced a
multi-faceted plan. It includes safe-driving talks in schools and at PTA meetings,

posting information about fatal crashes (including photos) in school hallways
and a
new teen driver safety committee formed to come up with additional ways of
promoting road safety among teens.

At the state level, the Maryland General Assembly this year is considering as

many as a dozen bills aimed at teenaged drivers, including proposals to ban
cell
phone use by teens with learner’s permits and another to limit the number
of
passengers that teen drivers can have. Experts consider both cell phone use
and
extra passengers, especially teenage passengers, a distraction for young drivers.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich has a package of proposals, dubbed his “Young Driver

Initiative,” that includes lengthening from four months to six months
the time teens
must have a learner’s permit before they are allowed to get a license.
He also
proposes tougher penalties for teens who are given citations while they have

provisional driver’s licenses and young drivers caught behind the wheel
while
under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“The goal of my Young Driver Initiative is simple,” Ehrlich said.
“Put well-trained,
attentive and responsible young drivers behind the wheel. Inattention, impairment

and inexperience put our children and other commuters at great risk every day.”

There’s hard evidence to back such statements. In 2003, 106 teenagers
were
killed on Maryland roads, and minors, while only 1.6 percent of the driving

population, were responsible for 5.3 percent of the motor vehicle accidents.

Nationally, teens accounted for 10 percent of the population in 2003 but 13

percent of motor vehicle crash deaths, according to figures compiled by the

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The crash rate for teenage drivers is
four
times that of older drivers, and it is highest for 16-year-olds, according to
the same
institute.

“Teens are our riskiest drivers,” says Russ Rader of the Arlington,
Va.-based
institute, an independent research organization funded by automobile insurers.

“And it’s that first year that’s the most dangerous.”

Rader says young drivers suffer from “the twin demons of inexperience
behind
the wheel and a penchant for taking risks.”
Two governmental controls that help the problem, Rader says, are laws limiting

the number of passengers young drivers can drive with and graduated licensing

laws. Maryland already has a graduated licensing law that includes a learner’s

permit, then a provisional license, then full driving privileges. (See accompanying

article.)

But Maryland’s law is rated only “fair” by the insurance institute.
“It’s the weakest in
the area,” says Rader, noting that nearby states and the District of Columbia

require more time and driving experience before teens can move on to full driving

privileges.

An instructional video produced by the institute, entitled “Young Drivers:
The
High-Risk Years,” focuses on the problem and on solutions. The video suggests

that while graduated laws help, parental controls can help even more. The video

recommends that parents introduce their own restrictions, such as limiting the
hours
teenagers are allowed to drive unsupervised and making sure their children get

plenty of supervision behind the wheel.

“Parents are the key,” Rader agrees.
That’s not news to parents like Mark and Bonnie Lawson of Hampstead in
Carroll
County. The Lawsons have twin daughters, Heather and Lauren, who turn 16 on

June 1. The girls are expecting to get their learner’s permit in the spring,
and Mark
Lawson was worried months in advance.

“It’s scary,” Lawson says. “You know young drivers are
the riskiest.”
Lawson and his wife only occasionally allow their daughters to ride with their
older
friends who already have their learner’s permits. When their daughters
get their
own permits, he says, they will have similar restrictions.

“We’ll have curfews, limits on the number of kids they can have
in the car,” Mark
Lawson says. “It’s just common sense. Some parents could care less,”
he adds. “I
see kids driving with three or four other kids in the car, just out and about
at all
hours. I don’t believe it.”