Young driver could deliver vital message
Canterbury teenagers will soon receive a sobering reminder from one of their own about the consequences of reckless unlicensed driving. In an unusual sentence, a judge has ordered a 15-year-old boy who caused a crash that killed three of his friends to give a series of talks to his fellow teens about the incident. Judge Jane McMeeken ordered the boy to pay $1000 to a rescue helicopter trust, $1000 to St John, be disqualified from driving for at least 12 months on turning 16 and undergo therapy. She also ordered him to make at least 10 presentations in the next 12 months to schools, youth groups or small youth community groups about the crash, what led to it and its aftermath.
The sentence was a creative response to a senseless but all too frequent tragedy. The boy, who was an unlicensed 14-year-old driver at the time, sneaked out for a secret joyride with four friends in the early hours of Boxing Day last year. The car they took belonged to the mother of one of the boys and two of them pushed it out of the driveway to avoid being detected. After picking up the other three, they drove to a campground, had an argument with two older men and drove off at speed, believing someone was after them. They are thought to have been travelling at 111km/h near Leeston when the young driver hit a grassy mound, which launched the car across the road and into a macrocarpa hedge. The driver and another boy, who survived, were the only ones wearing seatbelts. The other three boys, all aged 15, were killed.
It would be easy for the victims’ families to feel bitterness over their loss. Instead they appear to have reacted with great generosity. Tracey Drost, the mother of one of the three victims, Sammy Drost, told the court she had no anger towards the young driver and had since got to know him well. She has described him as a kind boy with a good heart who has had to grow up fast under a huge burden of guilt. Importantly, she says he has never tried to shift the blame for the crash.
Judge McMeeken’s sentence shows similar compassion, with an eye to the future. As the other crash survivor told the court, the boys made a stupid decision because, being teenagers, they didn’t think of the consequences of their actions. The young driver now knows these consequences sickeningly well — unlike many of his peers, who still think they are bulletproof and make similarly reckless decisions every weekend.
The driver could therefore deliver a powerful message, as long as he is genuinely remorseful and has the maturity to accept the judge’s challenge. Teenagers tend to be deeply sceptical of even the most knowledgeable adult who tries to tell them what to do. They take their cues from their friends and wider peer group, so the young driver’s account probably has a better chance of hitting home than most safety strategies. If it makes even one person act more responsibly behind the wheel, it will be worth it.