Texas teens are getting better behind the wheel, report finds

Texas teenagers are getting a bit better at the most dangerous thing they do: driving.

[Click image for a larger version] Photos by VERNON BRYANT/DMN
Photos by VERNON BRYANT/DMN
Ivie Oghakpor, 15, of Sachse practiced driving with an instructor in Garland on Monday. A Texas Transportation Institute study shows that the number of Texas teen drivers involved in fatal crashes dropped for five years in a row.

A new report by the Texas Transportation Institute found that the state's rate of fatal teen crashes is dropping faster here than anywhere. Researchers looked at 37 states that put restrictions on teen drivers' licenses and found Texas is alone in seeing the number of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes drop for five consecutive years.

"Texas is doing a better job than any of the other states," said Texas Transportation Institute researcher Bernie Fette, co-author of the 46-page report released Monday. Fette credited not just the license restrictions but also programs in high schools to get kids focused on safe road behavior.

Since 2002, when 625 teen drivers were involved in fatal crashes, Texas' numbers have come down each year. In 2007, 419 fatal crashes involved teen drivers.

That's still a lot of lost lives, and it's still keeping some parents on edge over the prospect of turning over the keys. Just ask Gracie Mendez, who turns 16 in two months, but won't be doing any driving soon.

In March, Gracie's friend Miriam Ramirez, 16, left school with two friends and died a few minutes later, when she lost control of her Taurus and smashed into a sport utility vehicle.

"That's the reason my mom is not going to let me drive till maybe I am 18," said Mendez, who will be a sophomore at Adamson High School in Oak Cliff. "That's the conversation we are having. I am hoping to change her mind, but she says even if I am being safe, it's the people around me she is worried about. Somebody next to me might be driving drunk or something."

Her mother, Maria Guerrero, said it's about more than just the risk of other drivers. A license requires responsibility – and she's not sure her daughter has it yet.

"If she gets her license now, and then gets some tickets, well, when she is 18 she is going to have to pay for herself," Guerrero said. "And I don't want her insurance to be sky high by then."

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