It's a timeless tradition that not even a sour economy can dampen. For a teenager, earning a driver's license represents new freedoms and another step toward independence. Parents, on the other hand, are pulling their hair with worry - and they don't think it's justified. ...more

March 23, 2009

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Leto High senior Karishma Mahtani has a chance to make her idea a state law, but it might not make her popular with friends who like to text, talk on the phone or fiddle with MP3 players while driving. ...more

February 4, 2009

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Leto High senior Karishma Mahtani has a chance to make her idea a state law, but it might not make her popular with friends who like to text, talk on the phone or fiddle with MP3 players while driving. ...more

February 4, 2009

Back when he was a 16-year-old Durant High junior, Weston Gee nearly died when he was a passenger in a car that crashed into a pole. He broke his right femur and right pinky, had a head injury and went into a coma. He was in a wheelchair for seven months. The reason he survived, he said, is that he wore a seat belt. One of his friends in the crash wasn't so fortunate. ...more

January 15, 2009

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee and his son Weston, a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol, are keynote speakers today at the annual Battle of the Belts high school safe driving awards ceremony. ...more

January 15, 2009

Hillsborough County high schools start the day far too early, in my opinion. Studies have shown that teenagers are on a different sleep cycle from the rest of us. If left to their own devices, they'll be ready for sleep much later, and wake up later, too. (Like that's news to anybody with a teenager in the house.) ...more

December 14, 2008

Parenting column about the dangers of "drowsy driving." ...more

December 11, 2008

Teens from local high schools got a lesson in safe driving Tuesday and, hopefully, the motivation to persuade others to put down their cell phones and buckle up. ...more

October 22, 2008

So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will give you the power to do something about it. ...more

October 7, 2008

Nearly all parents fear the day when their 16-year-old son or daughter drives solo for the first time. In this car-loving society of ours, the driver's license is the ultimate rite of passage. ...more

September 15, 2008