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 Friends and family
members of Trista Hinson and Candie
Farias laid flowers and small mementos on their
graves Friday, the anniversary of their deaths. The brightly colored flowers
and balloons stand out against the somber gravestones in Union Baptist Church Cemetery and Lancaster Memorial Park.
Hinson, 15, and Farias, 15, died Aug. 16 in the
head-on collision on Pageland Highway near Buford High School.
A 16-year-old girl, driving a pickup truck, crossed the center line and
collided with Hinson’s Honda. The 16-year-old was charged with reckless
homicide in their deaths and has since been sentenced to probation, Assistant
Solicitor Tom Holland said.
Brandon Whitaker, who sustained a knee injury and underwent surgery after the
accident, is back at Buford High
School this year, along with Crystal Bryant,
who was also injured. Mary “Toby” Knight and the 16-year-old were also
injured. All the teens involved were students of Buford
High School.
Law enforcement involved
Seven teen-agers from Lancaster County died in car
accidents last year. Since then, several initiatives have begun in hopes of
curbing crashes involving teens. The state legislature also passed stricter
driving guidelines for teen-agers. Officers can now stop someone 17 and under
if they are not wearing a seat belt.
No teen-agers have died in wrecks in the county this year, but
are the programs working?
“I think our public awareness is helping,” said Sgt. Lonnie Plyler of the S.C. Highway Patrol. “We do want the kids
to know we care and that we’re trying to prevent them from having accidents.”
State troopers have been more visible in classrooms across the
area but local officers began a more concentrated effort in Lancaster last year. Plyler credits increased parental involvement and the
local media for getting the word out about the dangers teen drivers face and
several Highway Patrol initiatives.
Seat belt programs at Lancaster High School have helped over
the past year, said Police Chief Hugh White.
Now, the Lancaster Police Department is working on a program for teens age 15
to 17. Sometimes teens may be issued a warning, but don’t tell their parents,
White said. As part of the new program, a letter will be sent to the owner of
the car, most likely the teen’s parents, when the teen receives a
ticket. On a voluntary basis, the
parents will be asked to bring their teen into the police department for a
one-on-one talk with Highway Safety Officer Pfc. John Otruba
about the dangers of driving.
“We want to do something proactive,” White said. “I think it will help the
parents become more aware.”
County programs
In January 2002, Healthy Lancaster took aim at the teen driving issue and
began the I Promise teen safe driving program.
According to Healthy Lancaster, almost 600 Lancaster County teens under the age
of 18 were injured in car accidents in the last two years. Teen-related car
crashes remain the leading cause of permanent injury and death for teens
across the country.
The I Promise Program is an initiative to reduce the risk of teen-age car
crashes. The program includes a parent/teen mutual safe driving contract and
a rear window decal displaying a toll-free number and the question “How’s my
driving?” Any call made to the number is received by a private call center.
The information from the call is sent by mail to the family.
The information is not released to law enforcement. Instead, parents are
expected to initiate conversations with their teens on the subject of safe
driving.
Safe driving contracts encourage communication between parents and youth so
parents can relate clear expectations to teens. Parents who use comprehensive
contracts tend to place greater restrictions on their teen driver, resulting
in safer road use, said Tracey Garrell, executive
director of Healthy Lancaster.
The program originally targeted the Buford area in response to teen accidents
in that part of the county. A limited number of free registrations are still
available from Healthy Lancaster for families interested in participating in
the I Promise Program.
Parents may also download a registration form from the I Promise Program Web
site: www.ipromiseprogram.com and mail it to Healthy Lancaster, PO Box 579,
Lancaster, SC 29721, for a program packet.
Another initiative, funded by a federal grant to target drivers ages 15 to
24, began in March.
Through the Department of Health and Environmental Control, 15 counties
including Lancaster are participating
in the “For Friends, For Life, Drive Free” effort to lessen the risk of young
people involved in drinking and driving incidents.
Vickie White, the program’s director in DHEC’s
Emergency Medical Services division, said the counties were chosen to
participate because of higher rates of drinking and driving incidents
involving this age group.
Last year, there were 37 total accidents involving 15-24 year-olds who were
drinking or using drugs and driving. One wreck was fatal, and 36 other people
were injured, White said.
The program includes mock crisis simulations, like showing people trapped in
cars following a collision, or mock funerals, to show the effects of drinking
and driving.
As the parent of two sons who will one day be learning to drive, and surrogate
parent to 1,800 students, Lancaster High School Principal Dr. Joe Keenan said
schools, law enforcement and parents can never do too much when it comes to
making safer teen drivers.
“Young people say, ‘I’m not going to have an accident,’“
Keenan said. “Driving is something that’s taken very lightly and even
as adults we can develop bad habits. Anything we can do is worth a try.”
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