Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (57337)	7/22/1999 6:18:00 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 67261

Call-mom signs steer wayward teen By Sean Kelly Special to The Denver Post July 22 - PARKER - Even though his mom isn't with him when he drives to work or chauffeurs his friends around town, 16-year-old Sam Minick knows she gets word of almost every mistake he makes on the road. "How's my driving? Please report any violations to my mom.'' That's the message - along with Mom's phone number - adorning the doors and bumpers of his white Honda Civic. And so far, it has paid off. Before the signs went on two months ago - after Sharon Minick heard about her son speeding through the neighborhood - the senior-to-be at Ponderosa High School had racked up two speeding tickets and had been in an accident. Since then, there has been only one call - the one strike allowed before he loses the car. "He's really more conscious when he's driving around,'' said Minick, who has received several calls from interested parents, in addition to the one complaint. "I can't tell you how much he dislikes it, . . . but I think he's really more aware now. He knows he's not invisible, and he feels people are watching all the time. Even his friends say he's improved.'' Sam learned to drive with his mom and at the Miller Lifesafety Center driving class offered in Ponderosa High School's parking lot. The center teaches defensive driving and accident-avoidance skills, but instructors were limited by the amount of space available in the lot. The center, which has been searching for a permanent home for more than two years, was ready last week to acquire a 2.7acre plot for an instruction center near the Clarke Farms neighborhood in Parker. The town's council and planning commission had approved the plan, but it was vetoed by Mayor Gary Lasater. He noted that the property had been designated for open space. On Monday, the town council declined to overturn the veto. "Unfortunately this thing got off on the wrong foot at the site-selection process, which would have compromised our open space,'' said Councilman Mike May, who also opposed the site because it had been targeted for open space. "We like the program. It's been in operation for several years, and I understand it's been very effective.'' The proposed driving center would have two 700-foot-long roadways so that instructors can teach teens how to control cars in a skid, proper braking techniques and lane changing. "Basically all the things that you can't teach on the road,'' said James Marot, program manager for the Miller Lifesafety Center. "Douglas County has the very worst teenage driving statistics in the metro area. And the most important things with kids is they need training and they need experience.'' The Douglas County School District does not offer driver's education classes, and with recent legislation requiring teenage drivers to log 50 hours of driving time before getting their permanent license, the plan for a teen driving center is much more than a community perk, Marot said. "We need to find a place for this kind of training,'' he said. Sam and his friends have tried just about everything short of paint to cover the signs, but word always makes its way back home. Now he's doing whatever it takes to make sure the signs are not on his car when he starts his senior year in the fall. If he gets no tickets or calls in the next month, Mom has promised to remove the signs. "My friends are always laughing,'' he said, his obvious disdain for the signs losing out to his greater need of a car. "You can't pick up chicks with those on the car.''