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Crime & Safety

County Police Talk With Parents About Teen Driving Safety

Prince William County police officers met with parents Wednesday at Battlefield High School in an effort to promote safe teen driving.

Parents watch their children grow through many stages, but one stage is feared by many because of its high risk—the age at which they are able to drive.

The Prince William County Police held an information session Wednesday evening at Battlefield High School in Gainesville for parents and students to help teach them the realities of driving.

Some parents brought their teens, but others came because they want to start teaching their children a little sooner than driving age.

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Christine Rawls brought her two boys, ages 12 and 13. Despite her lack of worry over most of her children’s milestones, Rawls said she is concerned about them driving and wants them to be aware of the rules and dangers.

“The way I feel as a parent is that when we hand them the keys to our car, we hand them a 3,000 lb weapon. It’s like handing them a loaded gun,” Rawls said.

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The concern is shared by county police, who noted that the driving laws are the very minimum restrictions.

Prince William County Police Officer Sundby began the talk by explaining that humans only travel at about six miles per hour, so the speed we travel in a car does not accommodate our reaction time.

He said that people between 16 and 19 years old represent the group with the highest number of accidents, which could be connected to their reaction time, which may not be as fast as more experienced drivers.

The talk also went into detail of the consequences of unsafe driving behavior when Officer Neiswonger spoke about how colleges, universities and employers want to know of any criminal charges, whether there was a conviction or not.

“Just because you go to court doesn’t mean you’ll have your driver’s license when you leave,” Neiswonger said.

There are consequences for parents of minors, or those who claim their children as dependents, because the parents assets are at stake if the child is involved in an accident.

Officer Tillman presented the audience with the teen-related driving laws,  including a curfew; minors are not lawfully allowed to drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday, and from midnight to 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Another important law for teens involves cellphones. No driver is lawfully allowed to text message, and people under 18 can’t use their cellphone while driving at all.

“There is software you can get from your cellphone providers that will render your cell phones inoperable while driving,” Tillman said.

The guest speaker of the evening was Yolanda Meffet, who lost her son Derreck in a 2010 crash.

She tearfully described her ordeal from the start;  from the last time she saw her son alive, and every detail after.

“There were markings on the street, car debris everywhere and flowers, someone had already placed flowers,” said Meffert of the day she saw the site of the crash.

Her grief showed through when she described the moment she saw her son’s body, broken by blunt force trauma. His face was covered with a cloth which she refused to move.

“I don’t want to see his face, I want to remember him as he was on Saturday,” she said.

The presentation ended with Fred Milbert, supervisor of the office of Health and Physical Education, who stressed that parents have the power to set boundaries by laying the ground rules of driving early.

He strongly believes that parents need to be involved in the learning process of driving, because teens are most influenced by their parents driving, not their peers.

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