Ensure safety on prom night

This is for parents of high-school girls who will be attending a prom this season: The best advice for you from a safe-highway advocacy group in Canada is not to let your daughter ride to or from the dance with a high-school boy.

The group is called the I Promise Program of Dundas, Ontario. It cites figures from the Canadian Highway Safety Transportation Administration in warning against letting boys do their own chauffeuring on prom night.

On prom night, driver-safety groups note, too many circumstances collide that are unfavorable to young female passengers: Young male drivers are inexperienced, are too inclined to take chances, are too likely on that night to drink alcohol and are apt to be sleepy, as prom nights are typically among the longest occasions of the year. And more girls will be a passenger of a male teen driver on prom night than any other time of the year across North America.

Speeding, alcohol use, multiple passengers and driving between midnight and 3 a.m. represent the deadliest combination of factors and are the prime recipes for car crashes, and all seem to be prom-night staples.

In recent years, the trend has been toward alcohol-free post-prom parties. Schools have been active in promoting events for kids that avoid the temptation of alcohol.

Schools and volunteer groups have sponsored parties at pools or other venues where music and dancing can continue on into the small hours of the morning at no one’s peril.

This is the sort of activity that should be encouraged to ensure the safety of all.

If, however, the decision has been made that a teen-ager will drive, parents should at least do the following:

Check your brakes and brake fluid. Teen-agers speed the most. While teens are interested in how fast the car can go, parents should be interested in how well the car can stop.

Limit the number of passengers your teen is allowed to transport. The risk of a car crash goes up exponentially for each passenger added.

Be a good role model and do not drink and drive, ever.

Insist that your teen and all passengers wear their seat belts and, again, lead by example. Parents must wear their seat belts, too.

Do not allow your teen to drive after midnight. If transportation is required after the witching hour, make alternate arrangements.

Proms are supposed to be memorable occasions — but for the right reasons. A tragic accident would most certainly be the wrong reason.

See www.ipromiseprogram.com