Excerpts from comments by Capt. Tom Didone of the Montgomery County Police, Special Operations Division, at the Dec. 1 meeting of the Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
“In 2003, we had three youth die in traffic crashes. But here we go in 2004 and we have 13 crashes which have killed 15 of our youth. What’s concerning to me even more than this is the fact that we’ve had five crashes and seven killed since the beginning of the school year.”
Education
“What we found out a lot of times in trying to talk to parents and bring them up in education, is that we grew up, the baby boomer parents that is, dealing with the fact that we were scared straight in drivers education. So whenever we talk about the issue of teen crashes and youth crashes and working with youth, the first thing parents say is, ‘Oh you’ve got to get some good movies and scare them.’ … We do have the pictures. But they don’t work on kids. They work on the adults. … The consequences, [compared to] when we were young, are dramatically different between yesterday and today. And what we have to do is bring everybody on the same page.”
“The amount of [behind the wheel] time mandated by the state is a minimum time and no way near sufficient.”
Parent Involvement
“One of the most important things that parents don’t realize is just because they sign and the kid gets their license doesn’t mean that it can’t be changed. Parents can be mini Motor Vehicle Administrations. The minute the parent says, ‘I have your license’ it is in fact suspended. Because if the youth does not comply with the parent’s law, all the parent has to do is go back to the MVA, sign a different form, and it withdraws the signature. MVA will take the licenses, formally, and until the child is 18 years old.”
Inexperience and Speed
“There are two factors that run through every crash that we’re dealing with: our young drivers are immature and inexperienced. Immaturity—they take risks. They use poor judgment at times. And that’s what kids do at this age.
“The other part is they have inexperience. They don’t have the core skills to be out on the roads. …
“Speed is running through every one of these crashes. Kids are going too fast. Whether they’re going too fast because they’re street racing, they’re hill-hopping, or they’re just flat out flying because they feel that they’re invincible and nothing will happen to them.”
“What people don’t realize that a single vehicle collision, there’s more than just a single collision. First you hit something, second then your body flies through the car. … But third, what people don’t realize is that then your organs hit your body. And that’s how you rupture your heart and that’s how you die in a lot of these crashes.”
Alcohol
“For ten years we’ve been combating this problem and we’re back to where we started back there. Underage drinking parties are prevalent. They’re consistent. The new problem that we’re having is that we’re having parents that are hosting them. They’re denying officers access and they’re telling us, ‘Yes, I chose to give a party to the youth and there’s nothing you can do about it but give me my $1000 fine.’”