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Len Hale speaks during the Henry County Partners for Safe Teen Driving meeting Thursday night at Bassett High School. |
Friday, November 14, 2008
By KIM BARTO - Bulletin Staff Writer
Len Hale is on a mission to prevent other families from experiencing a pain he knows all too well: losing a child in an auto accident.
Hale’s son Josh and three other Bedford County teens were killed in a car wreck in July 2005. They died instantly on a rural stretch of road near Smith Mountain Lake after the car Josh was driving ran off the road on a blind curve, his father said. Josh overcorrected and his car collided with a truck, he added.
Hale shared his story with parents and students Thursday evening at Bassett High School during the first Henry County Partners for Safe Teen Driving meeting.
Henry County Schools partnered with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Horace Mann Insurance to educate new drivers and their families about safety, traffic laws, insurance coverage and more.
Another presentation, open to anyone in the community, will be given at 6 p.m. Monday at Magna Vista High School.
Hale speaks about his loss because “the statistic of 16 kids dying every day in car wrecks in this country is unacceptable to me,” he said.
Josh would have been 20 years old this September. But because of the crash, “these kids didn’t get to go to their senior prom; they didn’t get to go to college; they didn’t get to fall in love,” Hale said.
“I don’t want young people to be afraid of driving; I want you to be respectful of driving,” he told the group.
Driver inexperience and speed were factors in the wreck, he said. Having three other teens in the car may have contributed, as well, he added.
Hale encouraged young drivers to “minimize distractions, drive a little bit slower, be a considerate driver” and “use your turn signal.”
To parents, he said, “Lead by example. Drive the way you want to see them drive.”
Hale was one of several speakers Thursday.
“Our goal this evening is to reduce the number of teen tickets, teen accidents and most importantly, teen fatalities,” said Linda Dorr, Henry County director of middle/secondary instruction.
Nationally, 4,946 teenagers died in traffic accidents in 2007, including 124 in Virginia, Dorr said. Teens are twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes as adults, she added.
“Young lives lost are a tragedy,” said Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry.
“I can almost guarantee if driving habits don’t change, there will be three to five young people in the county killed” in auto accidents over the next few years, and more will be injured or disabled, Perry said.
However, many driving accidents are preventable, and there are steps young drivers can take to minimize their risk, he added.
Following too closely, failure to yield right-of-way and speed are among the top causes of teen crashes, Dorr said.
In Virginia, one out of five students is involved in a crash within months of getting his or her driver’s license, she said.
Driving instructors talked about what to expect from the driver’s ed and behind-the-wheel programs.
Bassett driver’s education teacher Tom Hering said the program teaches students to drive defensively.
“Don’t assume that other people on the road are going to do what they’re supposed to; assume they’re not,” he said.
He also talked about driver distraction as a leading cause of teen crashes.
“When you have other teenagers in a car with a teenage driver, the risk of something happening goes up,” Hering said.
Bill Draper, an agent with Horace Mann Insurance, gave tips about keeping costs down on auto insurance for beginning drivers.
His advice to parents looking for their child’s first car was, “Buy something that is safe, reliable and as inexpensive as possible. The more expensive the car, the more it’s going to cost to insure it.”
The best thing for parents to do is sit down with their insurance agent before buying a car to find out which models will be the most cost-effective, he said.
Draper said most insurance companies will give a 20 percent “good student” discount to teens with “B” averages or higher.
However, the cost of insurance goes up about 30 percent for three years if the driver has an accident, he said.
Henry County Sheriff’s Deputy John Acord, resource officer at Bassett High School, talked about laws related to teen drivers.
Drivers younger than 21 are subject to “zero tolerance” for alcohol, Acord said, which means that if a breath test shows they have any alcohol in their systems, they can be charged with underage possession.
Anyone who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle in Virginia gives implied consent to be tested for blood alcohol level, Acord said. If someone refuses this test, his or her driver’s license can be taken away for a year. |
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