Another senseless death

It's the type of headline all too familiar anywhere in the country:

Students mourn teen: Alhambra students mourn cheer captain killed in freeway accident

ALHAMBRA -- Friends and classmates of Jazmine Jimenez mourned her death and remembered her life Monday at Alhambra High School.

Jimenez, 15, a captain of Song, a dance and cheer team at the school, was killed just after 1 a.m. Sunday when a car she was riding in with fellow students slammed into a soundwall on the Pomona (60) Freeway in Diamond Bar.

"She was always happy," said Mirna Glover, 16, a junior at the school. "She always had the biggest smile on her face. Everyone knew her from the smile."

My heart goes out to all concerned, but I also wonder, will we ever become concerned enough to do something to reduce such senseless tragedies?

Seatbelt laws perhaps? But all four passengers where wearing them.

Maybe tougher DUI laws would help? But no, drugs and alcohol were not responsible for this accident:

Jimenez was one of four teens in a 1994 Honda that crashed on the freeway, according to Sgt. Ed Martinez of the California Highway Patrol's Sante Fe Springs office. The car was traveling westbound when the driver, a 17-year-old from Alhambra, abruptly turned to the right and lost control, Martinez said.

It is unknown at this time why the driver turned rapidly, he said. All four occupants were wearing their seat belts, and it did not appear that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident, Martinez said.

Then why would a sober 17 year old, driving at 1 am make an abrupt turn on the freeway and lose control of his car?

According to the Center for Disease Control:

• Two out of five deaths among U.S. teens are the result of a motor vehicle crash (CDC 2004).


• In 2002, more than 5,000 teens ages 16 to 19 died of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes (CDC 2004).


• The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash (IIHS 2004).


• Teenagers represented 10% of the U.S. population in 2002 and accounted for 14% of all motor vehicle–related deaths (IIHS 2004).


• The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers; the risk increases with the number of teen passengers (Chen 2000).

Why is this all so?

Certainly teens have a greater risk through lack of seatbelt use and alcohol or drug consumption, but that isn't always the case, not is it here.

Simply put, the obvious answer is that teens are, by nature, and no blame to them, reckless.

Maybe its the hormones. Maybe, as has been suggested of late, teen brains are just different, but whatever the cause, no-one seriously disputes that teens are generally nore reckless than adults.

Why then should such individuals be allowed to drive wheeled missles weighing thousands of pounds on our streets? Why should they be allowed to bring their friends along for the ride?

If we were truly interested in protecting teens from their worst instincts we'd restrict the driving privilege until majority (though I personally believe something around the mid-20s would be better, at least for guys).

Being reckless is apparently a biological imperative, virtually unavoidable (regardless of what doting parents may believe). So let teens take foolish risks on skateboards and bicycles. Let them make unfortunate fashion choices with their clothes, hair, piercings and tatoos. Fine.

Just take them out from behind a steering wheel where they can kill, not just themselves and their friends, but myself and those I love, yourself and yours.

[Note: Information on assisting Jazmine's family is available by clicking here.]