Driving with care: Wayne County teens can learn lessons from crashes

It can happen in an instant — a teenager who is celebrating his or her prom or graduation one minute and in another moment, is lying in a hospital, or worse.

This weekend’s story of yet another high school student who died in a car accident should remind Wayne County teenagers and young adults just how short life can be — and why driving a car is not a privilege, but a responsibility.

The young woman who died this weekend was coming home from her prom. She was just starting high school.

And now, her life is over.

The cause of the crash is believed to have been excessive speed — the driver simply lost control of the vehicle.

And in a flash, she was gone.

She is not the first to be lost this way — and she probably won’t be the last. Over the last couple of years, there have been several tragic stories of young people who died from drunken driving crashes and distracted and inexperienced drivers who took their eyes off the road — for just a minute.

Driving is a serious business. It is not a social party or a chance to show off for a peer. Reckless operation of a motor vehicle could result in the death of a driver, passenger or innocent bystander.

And those are heartaches that never go away.

Many Wayne County students are celebrating their proms and graduations this month and next. And as they mark these milestones in their lives, they should remember this tragic loss and act accordingly.

We don’t want to lose a single one of them in such a senseless and preventable way.

Published in Editorials on May 7, 2007 10:41 AM