It seems as though at least a few times a year, the media will report about a tragic car accident that has killed or badly injured a teenager from the area. Not all such wrecks are the teen's fault, but sometimes they are.
Car accidents are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, according to 2006 data from the Centers for Disease Control. They are responsible for 36 percent of the deaths in this age group.
Also, the risk of car accidents is higher for 16-19-year-olds than any other age group. Statistically, per mile driven, teens are four times more likely to crash than older drivers, according to an Insurance Institute of Highway Safety study in 2006.
There are some steps that teen drivers, especially beginning drivers, can take to help lower the chances of there being a terrible car accident, though.
Driving school is one way to help teens learn about safe driving. Not only does the program teach them good driving habits, but it also can lower car insurance rates. (Taking driver's education at school can also lower these rates.)
Another way for teens to stay safe on the road is to simply not be stupid. This may sound harsh, but there are numerous risky road behaviors that teen drivers often participate in.
Don't drink and drive. Don't send or check text messages while driving. Don't talk on your cell phone or constantly play with the radio. Don't exceed the speed limit.
South Charleston High School senior Nicole Holstein has a very strong opinion when it comes to good driving and teenage drivers. For her, being a good driver means more than having a blemish-free driving record.
"I've met a lot of teenagers that defend their driving with the argument that they have never had a wreck," she said. "This is the worst argument I think they can give because it is not always the bad drivers that get into wrecks. That doesn't make you a good driver -- it makes you lucky, in my opinion.
"I think a good driver has to do more than just be able to control a vehicle; a good driver drives defensively and responsibly. And that pretty much cuts out most of the teenage drivers from my school.
"Defensive driving is neither taught nor tested in what I believe is the broken system to obtain a drivers license," she continued. "America needs to step up the driving requirements if we are interested in preventing fatal car crashes.
"We have one of the most lax systems in the world for getting your license and we also have one of the highest fatality rates in car wrecks -- it doesn't take a scientist to see the connection."
Josh Blair, another South Charleston senior, is equally adamant about the need for better driving skills among the teen population.
"Teenagers behind the wheel is an interesting subject," he said. "I think that the right to drive should only be granted to teenagers that are smart enough to comprehend that they are in a two-ton piece of metal traveling at a high rate of speed.
"Only if the teen is able to drive safely, then he or she should be granted the driving privilege. As long as they do not endanger the lives of others, everything will be OK.
"However, many teens think that they are above everything and that they, because they are so superior, can drive drunk, high or recklessly and everything be okay," he continued. "But unfortunately, this is not the case. There are many teens who are simply too stupid to realize this, and they end up taking the lives of other innocent drivers who were abiding by the rules of the road.
"Teens who do not see the importance of intelligent driving should not be given a learners, or a drivers license, period," Blair concluded. "I really do not think that they should be permitted to take the lives of other innocent people just because they are too stupid to realize the real responsibility that driving implies."
South Charleston freshman Jordan Pectyo believes that driving is a good privilege for teenagers because it gives a sense of responsibility. However, like Blair and Holstein, he believes that not every teen who gets a license should have one.
"They have lowered the bar so far now that anyone can get a license, and it makes it so that we have so many teens on the street that have no idea how to drive," he said. "While they may not be idiots, they have not learned from the test. Therefore, they have no driving knowledge to use on the road, causing unnecessary wrecks."