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After 4 Fatal Car Crashes, Students Revisit Driver's Ed

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By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - It was an effort to prevent another tragedy at a high school that has experienced too many of them over the past 14 months.

'If we save one life, it will have been worth it,' Principal Andy Frelick said.

Students at Wesley Chapel High participated Thursday and Friday in the Florida Sheriffs Association's Teen Driver Challenge, a program that merges accident statistics, safety tips, graphic videotapes and actual driving time.

The goal: Reduce the chances that teens will crash on the highways.

'I hate to get that call from Cpl. Terra Winthrop that another one has been severely injured or killed here at Wesley Chapel High,' said Cpl. Dan Olds, a Pasco County sheriff's deputy who works with the school resource officer program.

Winthrop, the resource officer assigned to Wesley Chapel High, helped plan the Teen Driver Challenge. In most cases, she has gone to the scene when students from the school were involved in accidents.

'I think it's important you take this seriously,' Winthrop told the teens.

Olds told students Thursday that drivers aren't always aware how much damage an accident can cause and how quickly it can happen.

'We like to think we're playing Mario Kart and when you get hit by one of the turtle shells you just keep on going,' Olds said.

Reality can be much more horrific. As a sheriff's deputy, Olds said he has seen the results firsthand.

The consequences of accidents aren't just abstract concepts at Wesley Chapel High. A few students there have been involved in four fatal accidents in the past 14 months, according to the school district.

The most recent happened at the end of the school day on Aug. 29 after Matthew Laidley, 17, and Katelin Kaiser, 17, hopped into a 1999 Isuzu Trooper driven by Adam Sanford, 17.

Minutes later, the Isuzu flipped on Curley Road. Laidley died and Kaiser and Sanford suffered serious injuries.

Witnesses said the Isuzu had passed several cars using the right shoulder of the road and was trying to pass one more using a turn lane at the time of the accident, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Nine days later, a Wesley Chapel High student was the driver in another accident that caused serious injuries when a Ford F-150 pickup flipped several times near McKendree and Overpass roads.

Olds previously presented the Teen Driver Challenge at Land O' Lakes High. He hopes to do it at other high schools as well, though probably during school breaks so students don't miss classroom time.
Wesley Chapel High, because of its recent history, presented a special case.

Thursday's portion of the program took place in the school's performing arts center during second period. Every student with a campus parking permit was required to attend, and other students were welcome to attend voluntarily because the message was so important, Assistant Principal Jennifer Crosby said.

More than 300 students sat in on the session.

Olds lectured on safe driving habits and played accident videos. One video, shot from a helicopter during a police chase, showed the fleeing driver ejected when the SUV he was in overturned. An oncoming car then ran over the man.

Olds stressed how quickly an accident can happen.

'People are listening to their favorite song one minute and the next minute they are gone,' he said.

Seat belts are important for everyone in a vehicle, he said. Anyone without one could be ejected or become a flying object within the vehicle, injuring or killing the other passengers, Olds said.

Proper vehicle maintenance also is key, he said. The oil level, transmission fluid level, brake fluid level, tire pressure and condition of the belts can all effect how well a car responds.

During the second portion of the program on Friday, the students were offered an optional driving class in which they were taught evasive maneuvers.

Crosby told the students that they should speak up when they are in a car and someone's not wearing a seat belt or the driver is doing something that makes them feel unsafe.

'All of you in that car have a responsibility to make sure everyone arrives safely,' Crosby said.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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