Teen Fatalities Described as a 'Dark Cloud'

Todd Waymon, right, with moderator Jerry Phillips, said responsibility "has to be . . . transferred from parent to child." (Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

Yesterday's meeting -- which included young people, legislators and activists -- was sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and broadcast live by Clear Channel Radio.

Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason), a Fairfax County supervisor and chairman of the council of governments' public safety committee, said parents need to remember that they set the example for their children.

"Parents are teaching their kids to drive all the time," Gross said. "Your child is watching you as you roll through that stop sign, as you yell at someone in front of you. Kids are watching what you do."

Panel member A.J. Willingham, 17, a senior at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, told the group she believes the driving age should be raised to 18.

"Kids are driving too young," Willingham said. "And for a 17 1/2-year-old to say that, something must be really wrong."

She also said the best car for a young person is "an old, clunky vehicle that can't go over 30 miles per hour."

"That way, kids won't attach an ego to it and won't take their friends around in it," she said. "It will take them from point A to point B."

Listeners of the show, which was broadcast on four area stations, called in to say that the Washington area has too many indulged children with access to fancy cars that can go fast. One caller lamented the proliferation of BMWs and Mercedes Benzes parked at area high schools.

Silver Spring resident Todd Waymon came to the broadcast to talk about his son, Matthew, who was killed six years ago in a crash caused by a speeding teenage driver. He challenged parents to instill a sense of responsibility in their children.

"Teens don't just take responsibility," he said. "It has to be earned and learned and transferred from parent to child."

Kristin Backstrom, president of the driving safety group SafeSmartWomen, said that as a mother of a 20-year-old son, she believes that teenagers do not fully understand the relationship between speed and distance.

"They test it and find out the hard way," Backstrom said. "My son thinks he's entitled to a perfect life. When I was growing up, I felt like I had to work for it."