Ronnie Polaneczky: For Lacey's sake, pass teen-driver law

TWO-AND-A-HALF years after Little Flower High School senior Lacey Gallagher died in a prom-night car wreck, two things remain unchanged:

Fishtown continues to hold her family in a tight embrace of comfort.

And legislation that could prevent teen-driving tragedies languishes in Harrisburg, doing no one any good.

"It's so frustrating," said Lacey's mom, Denise Gallagher. "We've been working so hard to get a law passed. We know it will help parents keep their children safe. We had no idea Lacey was in danger. We would've done everything different."

I caught up with Denise on Monday, as she recovered from the bittersweet festivities of "Lacey Day," a huge party attended by nearly 500 supporters over the weekend to raise money for the Lacey Fund. That's the name of the nonprofit that the Gallaghers established in Lacey's name to provide tuition help for Catholic-school students and to lobby for passage of tougher teen-driving laws.

"We could feel Lacey's presence," Denise said. "The way people have supported our cause is breathtaking to me."

If only Harrisburg would do the same. Thanks to plenty of lobbying on the part of advocates for restrictions on teen drivers, our esteemed legislators know - and appear to be willfully ignoring - what many parents don't know, which is this:

Teen-driver crashes are the leading cause of death among teens.

In fact, 16-year-old drivers have crash rates three times higher than 17-year-old drivers and five times higher than 18-year-old drivers - because the part of the brain affecting risk-taking behavior and judgment isn't fully developed until we're closer to our 20s.

Most teen-driver crashes are caused not by drugs, booze or deliberately risky behavior but by distractions and/or inexperience - and one of the biggest distractions is the presence of other teens in the car. The more teens in the car, the higher the risk for a fatal crash - up to five times higher when two or more teen passengers are in the car.

These findings are not anecdotal but are supported by solid evidence collected by the Keeping Young Drivers Safer project - a massive effort by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and State Farm Insurance Cos. to reduce teen-driver crashes.

In states where restrictions on teen driving have gone into effect, teen-caused crash fatalities and injuries have plummeted.