A Regional Response To Teen Driving Deaths

What is different now in St. Mary's, Cameron said, is that officials are presenting a "unified front" and devoting more resources to education. All county high school students will attend a one-hour assembly on young drivers involved in fatal crashes, he said, as part of a joint effort involving the Sheriff's Office and the school district.

The approach is to do "a consistent, measured program," Cameron said. "Some of the parts are the same. Just the presentation and the manner in which we apply it, that's different."

In Charles, school officials have offered classroom space to the College of Southern Maryland to run driver's education classes, said Katie O'Malley-Simpson, a school spokeswoman. The college also is offering two new driving classes this year.

The DriveCam program, in which parents are given cameras to install in their children's cars, includes a certificate for free installation at Best Buy.

So far, fewer than 100 people have signed up for the technology, which is free, said Rebecca Martin, community traffic safety program coordinator for Charles County.

"That's probably one of the best things we can do right now," Calvert Sheriff Mike Evans (R) said. His deputies are distributing information about the program.

Officials don't expect their efforts will reduce the number of teenagers involved in crashes to zero. No amount of education, they said, can compensate for the one thing teenagers lack: experience.

"Most of the time it's their fault, so it's something they're doing," Evans said. "If I could find the reason, I would try to put a stop to it."