An auto accident involving a single vehicle injured six children near Davie last week-end. The driver of a pickup truck, who was not licensed to drive, let the children ride in the truck and they were injured as they were thrown about the pickup bed. Luckily, none of the children were seriously injured.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the 34 year-old driver was arrested on “cruelty toward a child, operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, possession of an open container, failure to wear a seatbelt as well as other traffic-related charges”.

According to the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), most states have enacted laws prohibiting drivers from allowing anyone to ride in the back of a pickup, either an open bed or a covered bed. Yet there were thirty-five children or teens under the age of twenty killed both in 2005 and 2006.

Common sense would tell you that if your child must have be strapped into a car seat or seatbelt in car in order to be safe, then it is not safe for them to ride freely in a pick up bed.

Two auto accidents on Florida’s highways this week have been caused by aninals wandering onto the road.

A wild hog strayed onto Bridge Road in Hobe Sound, near Jupiter, and was hit by a 34 year-old man from Indiantown. The driver hit the large, black animal on a dark stretch of road and as a result drove off the pavement and struck a power pole. The man was wearing his seat belt, but unfortunately died in the accident.

In another animal-related car crash, a 57 year-old man from Merritt Island struck and killed a cow that was crossing Highway 50 in Bithlo. At 1:34 in the morning, Hwy 50 is also a dark road and the driver was unable to miss the cow that had meandered into his path. There were no reports of injury to the driver.

Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, wants to reduce the number of auto accidents involving inexperienced teenage drivers. He is proposing to make driver’s education a mandatory requirement for high school graduation.

Tampa Tribune’s online website, TBO.com, reports

According to a Florida Traffic Crash Statistics Report from 2006, drivers age 15 to 19 have the highest crash rate per 10,000 licensed drivers, while 18-year-old drivers have the highest rate of involvement in fatal crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that auto accidents are the number one killer of teens ages 15-20. There were 3,490 teenage auto fatalies in 2006, and 272,000 injuries.

Rep. Ambler’s bill is also supported by many teenage drivers, one of whom helped write the proposed bill. Teens realize that many of their peers are bad drivers and would gain knowledge and experience by taking driver’s ed course, thereby, reducing the number of car crashes and teenage fatalities. Currently these courses are offered at many high schools, but they are only an elective.