Teen drivers getting help

Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

Driving experts are going to school officials and state lawmakers in an effort to reduce traffic crashes involving teenage drivers in the Las Vegas Valley.

Experts plan to renew efforts for a graduated driver's license at the 2003 Legislature, press for tougher seat belt laws and promote contracts between parents and students so teenagers in trouble will call home, they said after a weekend forum on teen driving.

After a panel discussion Saturday, a couple of hundred students tried their driving skills in the parking lot of Sunset Station in Henderson, through a program called Driver's Edge. The program, founded by former race car driver Jeff Payne, gives teenagers instruction in skid control, evasive lane changes, panic braking and handling unexpected conditions.

"This is a first step," driving instructor John Phillips said after the event. "At least we're putting the spotlight on it."

Recent fatal accidents involving local teenagers have raised public awareness, Phillips said.

Ashley Biersach, a survivor of a fatal crash in May that claimed two lives, including the unlicensed teenage driver, spoke about the dangers of reckless driving during the discussion.

The goal of Metro Police, Nevada Highway Patrol, Stop DUI, the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety and others is better coordination, Phillips said.

Current Nevada law does not allow law enforcement officials to stop a driver for not wearing a seat belt and the fine is only $50, he noted.

In California officers can stop an unbelted driver and the fine is $200, Phillips said. There is a 90 percent compliance rate in the neighboring state for seat belt use, he said.

Efforts will also increase to pass a graduated licensing program for teenage drivers. Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who is running for state Senate, is preparing a bill for the legislative session opening in February.

The experts also plan to push for students from elementary through high school to sign contracts with their parents for help in an emergency.

Sandy Heverly, director of Stop DUI, said that when a child is involved in an accident with related drug or alcohol use, "We want to get that child home alive."

By parents and students signing a "contract for life," children can rely on their parents to help them first, Heverly said, in any situation that poses a danger.

Students could carry a copy of the contract, so that parents would be called first by emergency workers, police or the teens, she said.

Heverly said driving experts plan to go to the Clark County School Board to spread the parent/student contracts through all grades.

Southern Nevada's growing population poses a challenge for safer driving efforts, she said.

"We have an ever-changing population," Heverly said. "Unfortunately, they think everything is acceptable here, reckless driving, drunken driving. We have to repeat the same message year after year."