y, February 20, 2001
STATE
Page 5 A
THE BATTALION
ocs a superb
Mally thato
Parents lobby for
teenage graduated
drivers licenses
gh her nearly;
ne can not lie’-ll
BAUSTIN (AP) — Bill Hubbard
n of this nat ste PP e( i to the microphone in the
editing (inc| crowded House committee room
scene) mar Monday and pointed to a trio of
These fault brightly colored charts showing teen-
writino, age driving fatalities in Texas,
id thereforeimB "^ Ul ' 6-year-old daughter Emily
mii think It died in a single-car accident on June
j s fj| m ( 21. 199H. So as you’ll note, she is one
" of those statistics. She is a number on
one of the charts,” the Dripping
Springs man told lawmakers study
ing a bill that would create a gradu
ate! drivers license program for
young drivers, giving them more su-
ie audiences pervised driving time before they get
nursing horn an 1 unrestricted license.
■ “But we want you to know that to
I .. us. Emily is not just a statistic or a
, , 'number on a chart.” Hubbard said.
K '' hL “We hope that by moving this bill
forward that all of us together can
keep this tragedy from affecting oth
er Texas families.”
■ The bill filed by Rep. Joe Driver,
R-Garland, would require an inter-
#- mediate license for 16- and 17-year-
s part Doa °ld drivers. Under current law, a 16
\ erness of y ear ‘°'d is granted an unrestricted li-
I i i cense with just seven hours’ experi-
. te( j 1 |l|ce behind the wheel,
rn loser Ali j ■ ^ n d er the new graduated pro-
h rncW m- l * ie teens W0U M continue with
:! , : apermit for an additional six months,
al1d ; l:! wpich must include at least 50 hours
olfadult supervised driving, inelud-
‘ cn 'Movie j n g at ] east jq hom-g a t night.
■ Also, teen-agers would not be al-
;olutelyhorr:] owe( j t0 drive between 11 p.m. and
ges to over 5 Em. unless accompanied by a li-
not watch si ceinsed driver who is at least 21. No
hing to see: passengers under age 21 would be
able to ride with a teen-age driver, ex-
mtertainins:. cept for siblings who have received
aid have be; written parental permission.
r Austin mu.v
Exceptions would include dri
ving to and from work, school-re
lated activities or a medical emer
gency.
Teresa Spene of Austin lost her
15-year-old daughter Jenna in a car
accident last May. Her 16-year-old
friend was the driver.
“If this law had been in effect
then, she would have not been in
the car that morning,” Spene told
members of the House Public Safe
ty Committee. “There were three
cars involved, six teen-agers in
volved. Jenna was the only one that
died.”
In one hand, Spene clutched a
wooden-framed photograph of Jen
na. In the other, the teary-eyed moth
er held enlarged photos of the man
gled car in which her daughter died.
“Please support this bill in the name
of all who have died as a result of an
inexperienced driver.”
In 1998, the most recent year for
which data is available from the U.S.
Department of Transportation, 407
Texas teens were killed in auto
wrecks. Another 40,000 were injured.
“The situation is just getting
worse. That’s why I’m here,” said
Driver, who choked up when talking
about the bill. “Teen drivers should
not pay for their lack of experience
with their lives.”
Teen-agers account for about
938,000, or 7 percent, of the state’s
total 13.4 million licensed drivers.
Yet they are responsible for about 20
percent of all Texas auto accidents,
according to state statistics.
“I often wonder if Jordan would be
alive today had there been a graduat
ed drivers license program in Texas,”
said Ronnie Coleman of Houston.
Chick magnet
PATRIC SCHNEIDER/Thk Battalion
Thornton Menefee, a senior poultry science major, feeds his chicks for POSC 209 Poultry
Meat Production. The class hatches the eggs and raises the chickens until they reach maturity.
laveseemwi •
jbping a ifjjj Six-year-old boy killed
News in Brief
•faining if!
in tractor accident
ST. HEDWIG (AP) — A 6-year-old boy
A/c///A/cCoi died in a mower accident involving a trac-
hvKyleMw operated by his grandfather, investiga
tors said.
k Mitchell Kruse was playing in a field Sun
day afternoon while his grandfather was mow
ing with a tractor equipped with a shredder.
■Authorities believe the man did not see
tie child in the thick grass.
■ “As the grandfather went around to make
another pass, the little boy apparently was
hiding in some of the thick grass, and he did
not get seen by the grandfather and the
grandfather ran over him,” said Bexar Coun
ty Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Rodriguez.
The boy was .pronounced dead at the
scene.
St. Hedwig is about 10 miles east of San
Antonio.
Minister prompts vote
about 16-year amnesia
DALLAS (AP) — The future of a Dallas min
ister will be decided by his congregation this
week as some members voice doubt in the
saga he tells of a 16-year-old disappearance
and amnesia.
The Rev. James Simmons, who requested
the Friday vote, has said he will not take the
pulpit until at least two-thirds of the congre
gation affirms him.
Simmons, formerly known as Barre Cox,
says he was beaten in 1984 and awoke
from a coma hundreds of miles from home
with no memory of his wife, his 6-month-old
daughter or his job as a youth minister at
a prominent San Antonio church.
In December, he was giving an audition
sermon at White Rock Community Church
— a predominantly gay and lesbian con
gregation — when a former acquaintance
recognized him and had a friend put Sim
mons in touch with his family.
Harris County jailer dies
in I-IO freeway collision
HOUSTON (AP) — A jailer with the Harris
County Sheriff’s Department was killed when
a van traveling the wrong way on Interstate
10 slammed into his car head-on, police said.
Jason Hain, 26, was dead at the scene
Sunday after 9 p.m. He was headed inbound
on his way to work when a commercial van
struck his Honda Civic near the Shepherd Dri
ve exit, about three miles west of downtown.
The driver of the van, whose name was not
released, was in critical condition Monday at
Ben Taub General Hospital.
Search for
helicopter,
couple
continues
AMARILLO (AP) — The Civ
il Air Patrol searched for a fourth ,
day Monday for a helicopter crash;
site that could look much like some-!
one’s scattered litter from 500 feet;
in the air, a Texas Department of •
Public Safety trooper said Monday.
The Robinson R-22 helicopter
that Melvin “Gene” Webb and his
wife, Bobbie Sue, were flying only •
weighed 1,300 pounds, said DPS j
Trooper Wayne Beighle.
“When you take something that -
small and it hits the ground, it is go
ing to be very hard to spot,” he said.
“It could look like someone’s trash
that fell over and blew away.”
That’s why the CAP, the DPS
and sheriffs’offices from through
out the Panhandle are checking out
every feasible tip they receive.
When they cannot tell what some
thing is from the air, they send in
the ground troops.
On Monday, about 50 people \
were searching by air and another 1
50 on the ground for the elderly
couple, who had flown to the small
Panhandle town of Gruver to watch
their granddaughter’s “Little Drib
blers” game Thursday night. The
couple took off from Gruver about
9:30 p.m. Thursday to head back t<5
Canyon, a town about 30 minutes '
south of Amarillo, and have not
been heard from since.
“We’re really optimistic that we
might get something accomplished
today, but we are realistic that we
might not find them,” Beighle said.
“We’re going to do everything we
can to find them, but we can’t keep
up at this pace forever.”
The search for the couple has
been expanded as far south as Hap
py, Texas, about an hour south of
Amarillo, and as far north as the Ok
lahoma Panhandle, Beighle said.
“Our hopes... dim as time goes
on,” the trooper said. “We don’t
think they set it down and walked !
out.. Right now we are looking for
a crash site.”
The Webbs’ R-22 helicopter
was expected to land at the Buffa
lo Airport just south of Amarillo
about an hour after taking off from
Gruver. Family members notified
Randall County authorities about :
12:45 a.m. Friday, but fog and)
freezing temperatures held off a
search until 6 a.m.
31J
-4ssoc.
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