Beginning Monday, Howard County police will contact parents and guardians of teens with provisional driver?s licenses when they are pulled over.
The initiative comes on the heels of prom season and following a number of car crashes, including one that killed a Mount Hebron High School student and injured others as they traveled to a school dance.
Police Sgt. John Paparazzo said police will write more tickets and use radar. On nights of school-sponsored events, he said, they will be on heavy patrol and may set up driver checkpoints.
Working with the police and other county agencies to promote safety among teens is HC DrugFree, a 10-year-old nonprofit in Columbia that uses speakersto help prevent underage use of alcohol and drugs.
Alcohol is the most commonly used illicit substance among teens, with 10 percent of eighth-graders and 47 percent of 12th-graders reporting current use, according to the 2004 Maryland Adolescent Survey of Howard County teens. Marijuana use exceeds cigarette use among 12th-graders, with 42 percent having tried the drug and 21 percent reporting current use.
Under the police policy, parents will be provided with the date, time, nature and location of the incident, the type of enforcement action taken, the vehicle being driven and the number of passengers, police said.
If the officer does not reach a parent by phone at the time of the incident, the police department will mail a letter to the parents within 24 hours.
Examiner staff writer Ari Natter contributed to this story.
Deadly collisions
In 2005, nearly one-third of the people killed in fatal collisions handled by Howard County police were between the ages of 16 and 20. Eighty percent of those deadly crashes were related to speed.
? Howard County Police Department
