Sep 29, 2010
An eighteen-year-old driver with a seventeen-year-old passenger crashed into a tree, killing the passenger. On Facebook, the driver had a nickname, which here I will revise to “Wing Boy.” The fatal accident was reported in the online version of a... read more
Sep 18, 2010
On September 21, U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood will convene a second national summit meeting about distracted driving, which now accounts for an estimated 6,000 deaths and 500,000 injuries annually. The experts will gather while auto manufacturers roll... read more
Aug 22, 2010
This topic started out with what seemed like a simple question from my friend Brandon Dufour, one of Connecticut’s most astute driving instructors and the owner of the All-Star Driving School. A parent of one of his teen driver students insisted that even... read more
Aug 12, 2010
I have received several off-line comments about my last post on whether teen driver cases should be handled in juvenile court, where they are shielded from public view. Most have opposed my position, saying that the teen driver has suffered enough; the criminal... read more
Aug 7, 2010
In January 2010, a sixteen-year-old driver here in Connecticut was driving on Interstate 84 at 8:30 on a Saturday morning and collided with a school bus. A student on the bus died, and the teen driver has been charged with negligent homicide. Obviously, this... read more
Jul 19, 2010
Dear Readers: as some of you may have noticed, during the past six weeks I took some time away from regular posts on this blog. I wish I could say that I was relaxing on some beach or golf course, but I have been working on my book, His Father Still, and also doing... read more
May 18, 2010
Teen driver laws in most states contain a nighttime curfew. In general, the deadline for teen drivers to be home ranges from 9:00 p.m. to midnight, with several exceptions, such as employment, school activities, medical needs, religious observances, and participation... read more
May 5, 2010
I was privileged last month to attend the Lifesavers Conference, the annual national meeting of the traffic safety community. The meeting (this year, the 28th Annual) draws federal, state, and local public safety officials, law enforcement, hospital and emergency... read more
Apr 22, 2010
A blog called Juggle, part of the Wall Street Journal, recently posed the question, “When Should Your Teen Start Driving?” The article raised issues that have been debated for years by legislators and traffic safety professionals across the country: ... read more
Apr 11, 2010
On Monday, April 12, in Philadelphia, my work on this blog will be recognized by the National Transportation Safety Highway Administration (“NHTSA”) at its annual public service awards luncheon, part of the Lifesavers Conference. I am deeply grateful to... read more
