Prom season warrants call for added driving safety

Dear Editor:

This is prom season. For the thousands of high school students throughout the state, it should be an exciting time, a celebration and a rite of passage. Unfortunately, if this spring is like every other spring, too many young lives will be cut tragically short because of underage drinking and driving.

One of the most difficult tasks a trooper or another police officer faces is knocking on a door and informing parents that a son or daughter will not be coming home. They won’t be coming home because they have been killed in a car crash. Many others might well survive a crash but will be critically injured, perhaps even permanently. Bad decisions can kill, but we can influence those decisions. We can have an impact on the choices we make or the choices of our loved ones.

Students, parents and law enforcement officers all have a role in preventing the deaths and injuries that result when young drivers are impaired by alcohol. Parents have to be unequivocal about inappropriate conduct. In particular, they have to be clear about alcohol use by establishing hard and fast rules regarding alcohol-free driving. And it is imperative that they do not contribute to under-age drinking activities. Teen drivers need to recognize the magnitude of the driving responsibility, their duty to protect themselves, their passengers, and others who share the road.

As for law enforcement, I can assure parents and teens alike that Louisiana State Police will be strictly enforcing our DWI laws, and we will be working to support local chiefs and sheriffs in their efforts as well. When it comes to underage drinking and driving, we have a zero tolerance position – drinking drivers go to jail. At least, those who survive go to jail.

Let’s all work together to make this a safer prom season for all. Let’s make sure you are around this time next year to savor the memories.

Col. Michael D. Edmonson,

Deputy Secretary, Department of Public Safety/Superintendent, Louisiana State Police