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THE LEN LESSER REPORT  

THE LEN LESSER REPORT

 

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THE ROAD TO RUIN- AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS ARE THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF OUR TEENS.

Recently five young men in the Collingwood area died as a result of an evening motor vehicle accident. Their families and communities have had to endure the loss of fine youngsters in the prime of life. The churches/funeral homes were filled to capacity with grieving friends and relatives.

The young men in the back seat were not wearing their seat belts and were ejected from the S U V. Alcohol didn’t seem to be a factor in the accident. At the time of writing we are waiting for the results of the Black Box reading on the speed of their vehicle.

Three years ago I wrote a column on the death of two students from Regina Mundi Catholic College who died on Wellington Road South in a fiery head on crash.. They were trying to get back to their school on time after having lunch at Mc Donald’s.

When I was Head of Guidance at Montcalm we lost twin brothers who were members of the Army reserves as a result of a motor vehicle accident. It was a foggy evening as I recall and the boys missed the turn in the road ending up in a field.

The stats show us that teen drivers age 16-19 have death rates five times that of driver age 25-29.
Packing the car with a bunch of teenagers is a disaster waiting to happen. The young drivers often take more risks to try and impress their friends. 40% of 16 year old drivers who were involved in fatal accidents in the United states had one or more teen passengers.

Nighttime driving is also risky. Teenage drivers are three times more likely compared to older drivers to be involved in fatal crashes between 9-6.

You can do crazy stuff and most likely you will get off with a little dusting is the hope of young drivers Accidents/death happen to their parent’s age group but never ever to themselves or their friends.
Ice glazed roads with blowing snow makes the journey much more treacherous for young drivers

Taking the chance on giving your youngster the keys to your motor vehicle to drive their friends to a party in the evening is tantamount to playing Russian Roulette with your children’s precious live.. You let them spin the steering wheel and see what you get.

If you are lucky your teenager will arrive home safe and sound. The expensive S U V, four wheel drive cars have safety belts, air bags that are supposed to protect but they can’t replace maturity and good judgement.

Len Lesser

Len Lesser posts a report every week

You can email Len at lenlesser@hotmail.com