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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Commissioners Urge Comprehensive Approach to Safeguard Young Drivers
Posted by Media Release
Photo courtesy of here.
Express Support of a Comprehensive Study of Data, Best Practices to Guide Legislation in Ohio
Today, Hamilton County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution supporting and advancing a community effort pursuing solutions to teen driving fatalities in the community and State.
Traffic crashes represent the number one cause of teen fatalities. Sadly for Hamilton County, a number of fatal crashes took the lives of Hamilton County teens in 2007.
In response, a grassroots group organized a Teen Driving Summit last August, which included County leaders, and a coalition of parents, law enforcement officials, insurance companies and driving schools discussed proactive measures to safeguard young drivers. Recommendations were made regarding ways to increase personal responsibility, driver safety, and awareness, while equipping young drivers with the very best instruction, understanding, ongoing education, and accountability. The group also concluded that state legislators need to close the current loopholes in driver license laws and explore ways to reduce crash risks for young drivers by focusing on research and outreach efforts.
The resolution passed today supports this effort, and echoes the need for a comprehensive study to identify best practices, current laws and instructional guidelines on teen driving.
“This is an issue that needlessly devastates families and communities, and we need to do whatever we can to reduce the number of fatal teen crashes on our roads,” said County Commission David Pepper, who brought forward the resolution.
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10 Jan 2008 at 02:19 pm | #
they need to raise the driving age to 18. 16 year old kids cannot handle the responsibility. Cars kill 42,000 americans a year, guns kill around 29,000 and we rightly don’t let kids have guns.
10 Jan 2008 at 06:03 pm | #
Sucky press release. There is no information about the study or the recommendations. Does anyone have a link to this information?
11 Jan 2008 at 01:29 am | #
The single most significant thing any government official can do to lower teen auto accidents is require that school buses be mandatory at all age levels.
When I went to high school, the only students allowed to drive to school were those who had jobs immediately after school or some other valid reason for driving.
Today, we have school districts all over the county (state) receiving federal funding to provide bus service, while the districts’ have cut or eliminated bus service to the bare, legal minimums (more than 2 miles from school and below grade 9).
We have forced parents to provide cars to new drivers in order for kids to make it to school without having to walk as much as 7 miles. Once the kids have their “own wheels” driving access becomes unlimited and encourages more driving time. Kids have greater chances to skip school, smoke a joint on the way, ...
Meanwhile, the income disparities come into play. Children from poorer families who can’t afford cars for their kids have absentiism going through the roof, face exponentially growing truancy charges, etc.
Both parents work in these homes - and school districts could care less how these kids make it to school - just do it.
It’s time to invest in mandatory bus service- a fundamental necessity of gaining an education.
Schools are also well aware of the recent law that limits the number of teens who can ride in a car with someone under 18. Schools bear custodial responsibility for these kids until they have left the district’s property. However, every day after school - the kids are loading up their cars and performing the transportation service like inezperienced bus drivers giving their friends rides home from school.
The poor kids can just walk it - along streets without lights, sidewalks and cross walks. School crossing guards are a rarity in the ‘burbs, and in the city, our Dear Streicher recently cut the program
11 Jan 2008 at 11:01 am | #
Fun idea, why don’t we invest in light rail, that way we reduce this cities horrible pollution problems and nobody dies. Yippie. Oh also Anon, I smoked a joint every day on my way to high school and…uh…got straight A’s. Gee, isn’t that amazing. Weed has nothing to do with the issue, so quit trying to change the subject.
11 Jan 2008 at 03:37 pm | #
A resolution does not mean squat. The commissioners have no way to influence teen driving deaths. They should spend their time working on things they can fix. Jail overcrowding and release of prisoners. How about clamping down more on the budget that is getting out of hand?
Please, get to work!
11 Jan 2008 at 05:02 pm | #
Voter: the commissioners belong to a statewide association of county commissioners who coordinate together almost as a (powerful) lobby group to address issues that affect their community but that they have no other power to change. Kids being killed in this county affects us related to federal funding, programming, etc.—- it is their job. I commend them for working to safeguard their lives - I just think they aren’t lobbying for the best measures
12 Jan 2008 at 12:22 am | #
Anon said: “We have forced parents to provide cars to new drivers in order for kids to make it to school without having to walk as much as 7 miles. “
Who in the hell is “we”? Nobody forced anyone to move seven miles from a school. Because the wanted a subsidized acre of their own is a reason for all of us to pay for it?
Pepper is just a political pimp trying to get votes. Nobody forces parent to sign for their kids license; it is because they are too lazy to carry the kids to school. It is the parents fault that all this is happening and they should be paying for it, not me.
I see these school parking lots with hundreds of new or almost new cars for the students. If they have enough to buy these cars , they should have enough to obtain proper training and learn how to drive before they get them.
The disgusting thing is that these brats are killing other people, not just themselves. And when that happens, the parents should be put in jail. And that may even solve part of the problem.
12 Jan 2008 at 04:24 am | #
dieter… my gosh, what a bitter, stingy person you are. Are you a brilliant scientist? doctor? engineer? If not, then you and I both rely on these children to be our future, to develop the solutions to make our lives easier, better, healthier. Whether you have children of your own or not - a negative population growth, a controlled population growth deminishes the advancements of civilization that I’m certain YOU didn’t think up or invent, things YOU benefit from every day, while you ridicule the vast majority of us who undertake the greatest expense and burden in bringing children into this world that gave us what we got and what we will have in the future.
If you are so against procreation - get off the internet—you did jack squat to support it, rear it, pay for it… go count your gold coins and let the rest of us breed the future of this nation.
By the way, parents can’t take their kids to school and have to buy them cars because we’re all working. And when we bought these houses, there was bus service established for generation after generation until some greedy, tight wad generation started to demand money comes before safety.
What an absolute ass!
12 Jan 2008 at 11:19 am | #
This is not about the value of procreation. But a word on the subject, one of the biggest forms of pollution that the world is dealing with is people.
You talk like the loss of a few people is the end of the world. Look at the total picture not just your little world. If it weren’t for the news trying to make something of nothing, most of us would never hear of these accidents. Then when we do hear of them in the news, seldom , if ever, are we ever told the actual causes of the incidents, which might be useful to alert us to the dangers of driving habits. So why tell us at all?
This country changed for the worse when a mere 3000 people were killed in New York one day a few years back. That many were dying each week because of preventable war, disease and famine in Africa and this country cared nothing. People die and that is the natural order so get over it.
This is about a bunch of selfish cry babies that want the rest of society to pay for their life style. You say: “By the way, parents can’t take their kids to school and have to buy them cars because we’re all working.”? Well ain’t that just too bad? Suburbanite chose their lifestyle partly because they wanted to avoid having to deal with society’s problems in the cities. Now you want us to hold your hands? Get Real!
12 Jan 2008 at 11:50 am | #
The big problem came when schools were forced to take drivers ed out of the schools due to increased insurance. Forcing kids to sit for the mandatory 40 hours of boring- but necessary classroom- learning all of the state rules- and then the 40 hours of driving w/ the gym teacher who was older than dirt- but who taught you how to come to a complete stop- and how to get out of a slide on a wet pavement- and kept driving school cost low-is what has changed all of this.
Remember back when you had to take driver’s ed- remeber that cheesy Channel 9 flick- The Last Prom? Remember what it was like the first time you got caught with your hands not at 10 and 2 by “gym teacher”?
That is what is needed again. We have lost the dicipline that went with driver’s ed. Hell- they even made ALL of the class change tires, check the oil, check tire pressure- and look for general maintaince of the car. Does this happen when you pay someone else for the driving hours. NO.
Time to give the schools a break and put it back into the schools and make it a hard as hell class. I remember being in class w/ kids that FAILED. Too many pass the classes cause mommy and daddy pay.
12 Jan 2008 at 05:23 pm | #
Social Responsibility.
Did anyone see 20/20 last night - talking about the “happiest” people in the world? It was interesting that they pegged Denmark because they pay the highest tax rates inthe world but people view those taxes as social support that gives them peace of mind and security.
One of the most interesting thing is they have a moral system that values every life and uses taxes to equalize the community. A doctor is taxed much greater in order to bring his income down to that of a garbage man. They said that this system creates a means for people to do jobs they want to do rather than in pursuit of the almighty dollar creating a happier workforce and greater satisfaction in life.
It was really interesting.
Here, we are so worried about keeping up with the Jones, we make ourselves miserable.
13 Jan 2008 at 06:19 pm | #
What has comment 11 to do with the subject?
Maybe there is a need for an open forum format like the Dean used to host.