Road rules keep kids safe on prom, other nights

Kandis Carper, March 25, 2002

High school prom night is just around the corner. My daughter, a high school senior, keeps reminding me what a "huge" occasion this is.

She's made her hair appointment and worried about choosing her dress. I guess finding a date comes later. And while my daughter and teenagers everywhere think about the fun part of prom night, many parents are thinking about the risky side.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 16-year-olds are at the highest risk for having an accident. Forty-eight percent of all 16-year-olds killed in the year 2000 were passengers. And slightly more 16-year-old females were killed as passengers than as drivers. While graduating seniors and prom attendees are a year or two older, the risks remain.

More females will be passengers of male teenage drivers on prom night than any other day of the year in the United States.

Speeding, alcohol use, multiple passengers and driving between midnight and 3 a.m. represents the deadliest combination of factors leading to car crashes.

In the year 2000, 34 percent of male drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding, while 23 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal accidents also were intoxicated. Between midnight and 3 a.m., 77 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes were drunk.

Gary Direnfeld, executive director of the "I Promise Program," suggests that parents do the following to reduce the risk of their teen's involvement in a car crash:

• Check your break fluid. While teens are interested in how fast the car can go, parents should be interested in how well the car can stop. Make sure your vehicle is in its best mechanical shape if your teen is taking the wheel.

• Limit the number of passengers your teen can have in the car. The risk of a car crash goes up exponentially with each passenger added.

• Be a good role model and don't drink and drive. Tell your teen not to drink and drive and lead by example.

• Insist that everyone in the car wear seat belts.

• If transportation is required after midnight, make alternate arrangements. Act as a chauffeur, car pool with another parent or arrange for a taxi. It's better to lose one night's sleep than a child's life.

The prom is only one night of the year. To be really safe, parents must worry about the other 364 days, too.

There are several parent-teen contract driving programs. The "I Promise Program" has parents and teens enter into a mutual safe-driving contract and then provides a way to ensure accountability.

For more information, visit the program's Web site at www.ipromiseprogram.com or call (905) 628-4847.