Inexperience can be deadly for younger drivers

If anyone knows the devastating effects of teen inexperience behind the wheel, it is us. We live with it every single day as we face each day without our son, Gavin, and his girlfriend, Hunter Mcclelland, both just 17 when a crash caused by his inexperience resulted in the loss of both of their lives.

In Ohio and nationwide, auto crashes are the

No. 1 killer of our teens. Why are we not more aware and enraged about this? Texting, drinking or speeding are usually assumed, but inexperience behind the wheel is actually the No. 1 reason our teens crash, as in Gavin’s case. This is not just an issue for parents with teens, but for everyone on the road.

More than 65% of those injured or killed in crashes involving teen drivers are not the teen drivers themselves, but other people.

HB 106 extends the learner’s permit period from six months to 12 months. This change isn’t about age, it’s about experience. This is very important because we live in Ohio, where the driving conditions vary greatly season to season. A child born in October who receives a permit in April and license in October would never have had experience driving in the snow and ice with an instructor or parent to coach him or her on how to react. Research shows that six months is simply not enough time to acquire the valuable experience and coaching they need. States with longer permit periods have seen reductions in teen crash rates.

In the recent past, we have added many safety regulations because research showed they saved lives: seat belts, helmets, car seats. Why is this any different? We urge readers to support HB 106 to modernize our driver’s licensing system to save lives.

Stacy and Troy Schlotterbeck, Powell

Newspaper overplayed John Bolton article

I question the New York Times article “Bolton furor overwhelms Trump’s defense” in Tuesday’s newspaper. The article made it sound like this was some sort of direct testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, himself.

It was not mentioned that the entire controversy is based on a leaked comment from anonymous sources about their understanding of a quote from Bolton’s unpublished book manuscript. The Times admittedly has not seen a manuscript and has not corroborated the story. Nor has any other public news source. Any comments about this are therefore pure speculation.

No one knows exactly what was written and the context in which the reference was made. It is precisely this kind of journalism — where an anonymous leak is reported as fact — that makes us side with President Trump when he says the media are biased against him.

Carl Wochele, Westerville

Give retailers incentive to offer stronger ethanol

Even though Ohio is one of the nation’s leading ethanol producing states, it lags far behind other states in terms of the number of retailers that offer higher blends of ethanol gasoline such as E15 and E85. House Bill 400, introduced by state Rep. Riordan Mcclain, R-upper Sandusky, in November strives to change that.

The goal of House Bill 400 is to encourage more retailers to offer these higher blends of ethanol. The bill provides a short-term, nonrefundable tax incentive for retailers to help offset the costs of installing or converting pumps to allow for E15 and higher blends of ethanol.

Increased access to

E15 is a win-win for all Ohioans. Consumers will have greater access to a less expensive fuel option that has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency for all cars manufactured since 2001. Additionally, the increased demand for ethanol will provide more security for the 5,300 Ohio farmers who supply corn to the state’s seven ethanol plants. Beyond that, these fuels burn cleaner and are better for the environment, reducing greenhouse gases by 43%.

I urge members of the General Assembly to prioritize enacting this legislation. Encouraging the use of Ohio grown and produced fuel makes common sense.

Rick Fox, president, Ohio Ethanol Producers Association, Marion

Senators should take seriously insider’s story

Sen. Rob Portman says that he is “open” to the possibility of calling witnesses and hearing new evidence in the trial of President Trump. At this point, that is not good enough, if it ever was. The revelations in John Bolton’s book about Trump’s abuse of power are not mere speculation by some outsider; rather they comprise a compelling report that should be heard as legal testimony within the proceedings that are now taking place in the Senate.

Not permitting that testimony, or any other new and relevant evidence, is in itself obstruction of justice akin to Trump’s obstruction of the congressional investigations. And doing so is also in itself an abuse of power. Morris Beja, Dublin

We should use corn for food not fuel

An Associated Press article in Sunday’s Dispatch reported devastation to crops caused by swarms of locusts in East African countries. It stated that even a small swarm of locusts could consume in a single day enough food (corn, sorghum, cowpeas) to feed 35,000 people.

In that we now have an abundance of oil in this country because of fracking, I wonder if it is not time to stop adding ethanol from corn to our fossil fuel gasoline and use it to help fight hunger.

Tom Currie, Westerville

GDP is slowing down despite Trump’s pledge

In his Tuesday letter “President has country on right course,” Jim Douglass said the gross domestic product of the United States is at record levels. And just like with many Trump supporters, his "facts" are misguided.

While it's true that overall GDP is at a record level (it actually has grown with every president since its inception), its growth is dropping. In the third quarter of 2019 it was at 2.1% and

2.4% overall for 2019.

One economist at Moody's predicts just 1.1% growth by 2021. This, on the promise President Donald Trump made while running that we would see consistent growth at 3% but that 5% to 6% would be possible with his plan. This is what happens when you buy the snake oil from the salesman; you drink poison.

Ryan Beem, Columbus

Two different results in a test of character

What a contrast between two articles published in The Dispatch over the weekend. The Philadelpia Inquirer article “Stolen rare copy of Columbus letter recovered” in Sunday’s Dispatch described how a collector of cultural artifacts willingly returned a million-dollar Latin copy of the first letter from Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand of Spain, on being informed that it had actually been stolen from a national library in Italy.

And the Associated Press article “US rejects extradition request from UK over fatal road crash” in Friday’s Dispatch outlined how the Trump administration is refusing extradition to the United Kingdom of a diplomat’s wife, Anne Sacoolas, who had killed a young British motorcyclist by driving on the wrong side of the road.

Sacoolas, while presumably able to claim diplomatic immunity as the spouse of an American government official, chose instead to whisk herself out of the country rather than face the consequences of her actions. Where’s the public outcry about this reprehensible and cowardly act?

What lesson does this teach our children about the clowns running this country?

Ian J. Wilson, Westerville