St. Mary's Effort Part of a 'Unified Front'
By Matt Zapotosky
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 27, 2008
New safe-driving initiatives targeted at teenagers will be announced this week by St. Mary's County and state officials as part of a regionwide effort to reduce the number of crashes involving drivers younger than 21.
Parents in St. Mary's and other areas of Southern Maryland will be given the option of installing free cameras in their teenagers' cars that will record the minutes before and after an unusual driving maneuver, such as sudden braking or a crash. In addition, St. Mary's students will be prohibited from parking at school unless they sign a contract and watch a film about safe driving.
"Look at the percentage of accidents in this age group. It's rather alarming," said St. Mary's County Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron (R). "This is a priority for all of us. The safety and security of our young people is certainly a priority."
From 2004 to 2006, people ages 16 to 20 accounted for 24.6 to 29 percent of at-fault drivers in all crashes in the three Southern Maryland counties, according to data provided by county officials.
Statewide, young drivers represented17.5 percent of at-fault drivers in all crashes.
Two people have died in crashes involving 16- to 20-year-old drivers in Southern Maryland this year, officials said, but almost 50 have died in the past three years.
In St. Mary's, 13 people were killed in crashes involving 16- to 20-year-old drivers from 2005 to 2007. In Calvert County, 12 people were killed in crashes involving 16- to 20-year-old drivers in the same period. In Charles County, 21 people were killed. Officials noted that the most recent statistics, from 2006 to 2008, are unofficial until they are processed by the state.
"If we could just get the teens to drive all roads at the speed limit, I guarantee we could cut those accidents by 90 percent," said Charles County Sheriff Rex W. Coffey (D), who added that he is establishing a focus group to examine ways to reduce accidents involving young people.
"It seems like so many of them just got to run into something the first few months they drive," he said.
Officials are unsure why more young drivers crash in Southern Maryland than in other places. Some blame it on the region's narrow, winding roads, which often lack shoulders. Some say public transportation is not as available as it is in urban areas, making it necessary for more young people, whose parents often work in Washington and can't drive them to school, to drive themselves.
"It's not as if we have bad drivers," said Debbie Jennings, community traffic safety program coordinator for Calvert County. "There's just a lot going on on our roadways."
Police in the three Southern Maryland counties say they will continue to do selective enforcement of seatbelt and speed laws near school zones. In Charles and St. Mary's counties, school parking pass privileges can be revoked for certain driving citations, officials said.
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."
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