DEL.ICIO.USCaution on teen driving urged after death of 16-year-old
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, January 30, 2009
When her sons began driving, Cobb County mother Lori Fowler laid down the rules: Call when you get where you’re going and call when you leave to come home. If they didn’t abide by her rules, she yanked the keys.
If her sons are running late, she has another rule: “I tell them do not speed when you come home. You’re already late,” she said. “Better late than never.”
John Spink/jspink@ajc.com
Friends and fellow students of Garrett Reed created a memorial at the scene of his fatal accident in Kennesaw.
That message hit home at Harrison High School this week where thousands of parents and students mourned the death of 16-year-old Garrett Reed, a member of the football team killed in an early morning accident on Jan. 24. Garrett is the second athlete at the school killed in an auto accident in less than three years.
Police say Reed had been given alcohol by Powder Springs mother Kecia Evangela Whitfield, 43, the night of his accident.
Whitfield was arrested Friday afternoon by Cobb county police and charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor and reckless conduct, both misdemeanors. She had bought the alcohol for her stepson and some of his acquaintances, police said.
In February 2006, Luke Abbate, 15, died in an accident involving a teen driver. He and Garrett lived in the same neighborhood.
Driver education classes, parental advice, special laws aimed at teen drivers and common sense aren’t always enough to protect young drivers.
“We are not invincible as teenagers and we are no more special than anyone else,” said 15-year-old Ryan Eustace, a teammate of Garrett’s. “We don’t have super powers.”
The accident has caused Ryan’s mother to rethink when he will receive his license. “I just don’t think at 16 they have enough experience to be behind the wheel of a car,” said Dawn Eustace, a Cobb County mother of four. “There’s been too many teenage deaths that have occurred that didn’t have to.”
Hours before his death, Garrett attended a fish fry at the school benefiting the baseball team and attended Harrison’s basketball game with Marietta High School. Neal Reed, Garrett’s father, believes his son was on his way to spend the night at a friend’s house when the wreck occurred about 12:30 a.m.
“He was a boy who kind of lived in the present,” said Reed of Powder Springs.
Garrett, who was wearing a seat belt, was killed when his car crossed into the other lane, crashing into a car driven by Richard C. Reyes, 25, of Dallas. Reyes suffered a leg injury.
Cobb police have said alcohol and speed were contributing factors and believe Garrett may have been at fault. Toxicology results are not expected for six to eight weeks.
A devoted University of North Carolina basketball fan, Garrett loved Carolina blue. His room is filled with UNC sports memorabilia and his own trophies and honors. A wide receiver and defensive back on the football team, he had just been named a team leader.
“He was really rather quiet and reserved about football,” his father said. “He was just beginning to relish his role as a leader on the football team.”
In 2007, Joshua’s Law changed requirements for 16-year-old drivers in Georgia. They cannot drive between midnight and 6 a.m., among other restrictions, and must take driver education training to get a license at 16.
Garrett had taken a driving course and had his Class D license five months, his father said.
“He was a good driver,” Reed said. “All parents certainly worry about their children any time they get behind the wheel of a car.”
Since Joshua’s Law, 2,923 students have taken the driver education course offered through the Marietta Community School, said director Cindi Parris of Marietta.
The course costs $350, and scholarships often are available. Students must complete 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of time on the road before qualifying for a Class D license. Families receive a 10 percent discount on car insurance and a tax credit for children who complete the training.
Students can go through the course at privately owned driver education businesses or be trained by parents under state guidelines.
Because of the way data is collected, the state does not have traffic accident and fatality figures to track the effectiveness of Joshua’s Law. The latest figures available are for 2006 when there were 28,619 crashes involving drivers ages 16 and 17, and 35 of those were fatal.
Looking at raw numbers since Joshua’s Law, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has noticed a trend toward fewer teen traffic deaths, said spokesman Jim Shuler.
Eustace, who lives in the same neighborhood as the Reed family, hopes teenagers and parents will learn from Garrett’s death.
“We need to be more cautious, be moms and dads that call and ask where the kids are and not worry about if they’re going to get mad at us,” she said.
