Dangerous behavior blooms in spring

Spring is a time when people sigh with relief and shed off their winter coats.
The flowers are beginning to bloom, the skies are beginning to clear, and the earth is beginning to turn green with rebirth.

Spring is an exciting time. More people venture outside to have fun. Over the weekend, children were seen rollerblading, people were walking dogs in the park, and hot rod enthusiasts had their show cars out of the garage and cruising on the streets.

Unfortunately, spring also seems to be a time of reckless behavior and activities.
The two that seem to never fail to spring up each season — just like the flowers — are reckless driving on motorcycles and underage drinking.

This past weekend, three motorcyclists were observed traveling down Washington Street near Robein. One of the cyclists did a “wheelie” while riding down the street in close proximity to his two riding partners.

This is illegal and dangerous for so many reasons — one, he could miscalculate and fall, and two, he could come down on top of one of his friends.

There are stickers everywhere that say, “Start seeing motorcycles,” to warn motorists to watch for bikes, and this is good, but when there are dangerous and irresponsible motorcyclists doing “wheelies,” speeding, racing or other crazy antics, this slogan takes on a whole new meaning. Drivers in vehicles need to watch not only for the responsible motorcyclists, but also for the crazy ones who could wreck in front of their car at any given moment. These types of bikers are not helping other responsible motorcyclists to promote their safe driving causes.

And, regarding teen drinking, it always seems, without fail, that police hand out citations for underage drinking at the same time the Easter bunny is handing out eggs.

We know most teens are in a hurry to grow up. They want to be seen and heard as adults.
They are entering that phase in their lives during which they are graduating from high school and going off to college.

They are feeling free and independent. No longer will they have mom or dad watching over them, telling them what to do on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, many teens turn to drinking alcohol as a way to express this rite of passage, and this can lead to trouble.

The main problem with expressing independence through drinking alcohol is that it is dangerous and illegal.

According to a report by The Century Council, a national not-for-profit organization funded by America’s leading distillers and dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking, more than one-third of youth under the age of 21 killed in alcohol-related fatalities in 2001 died during the months of April, May and June — prom and graduation season, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In 2001 alone, 2,950 children under 21 died in alcohol-related traffic fatalities — 1,012 died during the months of April, May and June.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.

One of the reasons is because teens are inexperienced at driving. When alcohol is added to this mix, the results can be deadly.

Nationally in 2006, 25 percent of the young drivers ages 15 to 20 who were killed in crashes had blood alcohol concentration levels of .08 or higher at the time of the crash.

Here are some other statistics teens should read before they consider drinking and driving at any time — not just prom or graduation.

Each year, more than 5,000 teens (ages 16-20) are killed in passenger vehicle crashes.
During 2006, a teen died in a traffic crash an average of once every hour on weekends and nearly once every two hours during the week.

In Illinois, in 2007, a total of 282 deaths occurred as a result of young drivers (ages 15 to 20). This total is broken down into young drivers (118 deaths); passenger in young drivers’ vehicles (80 deaths); occupants of other vehicles (53 deaths); and nonoccupants (31 deaths).

There are other safe alternatives to celebrate such an important time in a teen’s life. East Peoria Community High School offers Project Graduation, an all-night lock-in at school for seniors on graduation night.

And there are many other fun things to do the night of prom, such as dancing, going out to eat, the movies, bowling or gathering at a friend’s house to play Wii.

The goal of our yearly editorial is to convince teens that there is more to life than drinking alcohol, and we want you to live and experience it.