Parents

Read a letter from a parent of a new driver!

So your teen is ready to drive. We anticipate this step eagerly — no more car pools or chauffeuring to work and school, but we also know the danger involved in driving, and we know the statistics about teenage accidents. “Fear This” will try to help you prepare your teen and yourself for this major event in your lives!

Is your teen ready to drive?
Are you ready for your teen to drive?

  • Where will your teen be driving? What safety considerations does this area involve? 4-way stops? Left turns? Hidden drives? With your teen, look for these driving hazards and review how to negotiate them safely.
  • If you are teaching your teen to drive, make sure you teach them good road manners as well as letting them practice driving. Take your time — lots of practice in an empty parking lot will pay off!
  • Remember your teen in just that – a teenager. Your teen is still growing and maturing mentally and emotionally as well as physically. You gave them plenty of time to learn to walk; give them time now to learn to drive.
  • Teach by example — practice good driving habits, courtesy on the road, and obey traffic rules!

My Son’s Last Ride.
By Diana Lane.
Snellville GA

Let me tell you about my son’s ride, or should I say his last ride. It was in an ambulance from the scene of a horrific accident in Snellville. Lights flashing and sirens wailing were the sounds that I shall remember. He laid motionless in the back of that amubulance, with his mother as a front seat passenger. But his very last ride was in a beautiful silver casket on his way to his own funeral. You see, my son was killed as the result of street racing.

How can the young man in that AJC article condone his behavior. It is just appalling. Street racing kills. Speed kills. I know firsthand. It has forever destroyed my life. How can this young man stand up and say that his speeding ticket was a “weenie”. I cannot believe that the AJC would allow such garbage to be printed. It is if no one cares about the number of teens, and adults, killed every day due to speed. How sad. How terribly sad. I have spent the last 20 months grieving daily over the loss of my precious son, who died as the results of two teens street racing at speeds that were out of control. Just ask them about how they feel now that they are serving time. I am sure they would tell you that it is not cool, nor should it be glamourized in any fashion, except on a racetrack under very strict observation.

I can only pray that the parents of this young man NEVER get the call that we received about our son.