Traffic Deaths Lead to Teen Driving Crackdown
posted 4:09 pm Fri January 11, 2008 - Washington
"It'll mean I accomplished something I never thought I'd be able to do." Peter Kiemel and his mother Linda were taking one last spin around the block before going to take his driver's license test, something they waited 18 years to see.
When Peter was 15-years-old and in the passenger seat, another car seriously rear-ended him and his mother. Peter decided to play it safe. "I wasn't prepared for the responsibility."
Not all teenagers are that cautious. The federal government says drivers Peter's age are four times more likely than older drivers to crash with more traffic fatalities. In just one month in 2006, 13 area teens died despite laws meant to help keep them safe.Now, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments passed a resolution asking Maryland, Virginia and D.C. to set guidelines that all area teens would have to follow, including minimum ages, hours logged behind the wheel and a push for police to enforce those laws. "What we're trying to do is get the toughest standards we can across the area," COG Executive Director Dave Robertson said.
The Council of Governments plans to lobby for teenage driver standards in Richmond and Annapolis over the next few weeks.
Peter says the guidelines couldn't hurt. Now that he's learned the rules of the road, he wants everyone else to follow them too. On a side note, Peter passed his driving test and should have a license in his hands by next week.
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