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Show Friend Repeats Warning Trooper Craig Twitchell asked us to reprint this letter which we first published October 27, 1988. We do so gladly, along with his followup letter of today. Editor Several concerned citizens have told me of a wide range of abuse involving underaged licensed drivers in our county. Apparently, in most cases, parents par-ents are allowing it to take place. I don't think I have to go into too much detail in pointing out the great danger involved, not only to the underaged drivers and their young passengers but also to other, drivers on the road. Wile a young person driving a vehicle in a careless and reckless manner may be looking at the vehicle vehi-cle as something of a toy to play with, as a Utah Highway Patrol-; man, I have been instructed to regard re-gard the combination of that driver and that vehicle as a deadly weapon waiting to explode, and to act accordingly, ac-cordingly, using appropriate deadly force to stop it. We as parents have the responsibility respon-sibility to put an end to this illegal ille-gal driving on our streets and highways. To allow unlicensed young people to drive is asking for disaster. I have heard of kids in Bryce Valley and elsewhere driv- ing during the lunch hour who are not only too young to be driving but are allowing their young pas-' sengers to hang out the windows and travel with open doors. They demonstrate only too clearly their immature approach to the serious responsibility of driving a car and their unwillingness to obey the. law. . . , . ; , Two important Utah statutes, say: , (1) 41.2.104--No person except expressly exempt may operate a motor vehicle on a highway in this, state unless the person is licensed as an operator by the Division of, Motor Vehicles, and (2) 41.2.105--A person may not authorize or knowingly permit i motor vehicle owned by him or " -under-his control to be operated try a person in violation of this chapter chap-ter re: Unlicensed Drivers. ! In my personal opinion, the adult who allows any unlicensed individual to drive his car should and will be cited for allowing it to take place. We as parents have responsibility re-sponsibility for our children arid their behavior especially when it involves the safety of others on our highways. This letter is to advise everyone concerned that if I make a stop and the driver at the wheel is under-aged under-aged and unlicensed, there will be no warning issued. A citation will be issued to the driver and to the parent who has allowed it to happen. hap-pen. I hope it won't come to this, and I hope that we can be responsible responsi-ble enough to take care of this matter mat-ter without the issuing of citations, cita-tions, the payment of fines, and the embarrassment of explaining to the juvenile judge why we allowed it to take place. I've known the good people in this area all my life and I'm confident confi-dent that with this slight bit of prodding, we can solve the problem prob-lem before it comes to citations and court, or worse, serious injury or loss of life, which would grieve me as much as you. We can all look back and remember re-member with great sadness that several of our young people have died in vehicles because of careless driving. Please, let's put a stop to this problem before we lose someone some-one else. Sincerely your friend and neighbor, Patrolman Utah Highway Patrol Craig Twitchell When I asked the Garfield County News to publish the above letter, I felt it would be sufficient to solve a problem the easy diplomatic way by reminding parents of underage under-age drivers that it is not only dangerous dan-gerous for their youngsters to drive , on our highways, but that it is also illegal. I felt that a warning would be best for all concerned, but I was wrong. Due to the recent area fatality which involved an underage driver, and because several concerned citizens citi-zens have voiced complaints, we, . your local highway patrol troopers, have decided to approach the problem prob-lem with strict enforcement of the law. There will be no warnings for underage driver violations. The driver will be cited and referred to Juvenile Court. The parents will be cited for allowing the juvenile to drive and will be referred to' court along with their minor child. It was my hope that parents who were permitting their underage children chil-dren to drive would stop that activity, activ-ity, but for the most part, that has not happened. The fine for allowing allow-ing a minor to drive is only $80. Better, $800 or $8000 or??? What price can we put on a child's life? Trooper Craig Twitchell Utah Highway Patrol |