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Ronnie Polaneczky: Saving teen drivers, in Lacey's name

IN THE TWO years since Lacey Gallagher died in a prom-night car wreck, her family and friends have tried hard to keep her memory alive.

Denise Gallagher, with a photo of her daughter Lacey, who was killed two years ago in a prom-night car wreck. (Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer)
Denise Gallagher, with a photo of her daughter Lacey, who was killed two years ago in a prom-night car wreck. (Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer)Read more

NOTE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED.

IN THE TWO years since Lacey Gallagher died in a prom-night car wreck, her family and friends have tried hard to keep her memory alive.

They've established The Lacey Fund to raise tuition for deserving students at Lacey's alma mater, Little Flower High School, and other Catholic schools. This year, the fund awarded 29 scholarships in her name.

They've held beef-and-beers and golf outings at Ron Jawor-ski's Valleybrook Country Club, in Blackwood, N.J., to keep the Lacey Fund flush.

They gather for an annual memorial Mass in Lacey's name at Holy Name of Jesus parish, in Fishtown, where Lacey and her siblings attended grade school.

And they have allowed CosmoGirl magazine to use Lacey's story in a campaign called "Students for a Safe Prom," which aims to help teens make smart choices on prom night.

All of this has provided comfort to Denise and Frank Gallagher and their surviving children - Sean, 24; Brianna, 15, and Lexi, 14 - who are still reeling from Lacey's death on April 28, 2007, in an accident that also injured six other Little Flower students and their senior-prom dates.

But what they really want is passage of Pennsylvania House Bill 67, which contains a set of teen-driving restrictions that the Gallaghers believe might have saved Lacey's life had they been law the night she died.

An earlier form of the bill was introduced in 2007 by Katharine Watson, R-Bucks, a champion of safe teen-driving.  John Sabatina, D-Philadelphia, then amended the bill to suggest naming it "Lacey's Law" if it were passed into law.

The bill generated buzz but never made it out of committee. It was reintroduced this session by Joe Markosek, D-Allegheny, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. This time, "the issue seems to be percolating," says Markosek.

Last week, HB 67 passed, 168-24, in the House. It is now under consideration in the Senate.

The vote came on the eve of the second anniversary of Lacey's death.

The timing has given her mother goose bumps.

"Lacey was going to make a difference in the world," says Denise of her dazzling daughter, a straight-A student recruited by Chestnut Hill College to play soccer. She was planning to study psychology and early-childhood education.

"All she wanted was to help people," says Denise. "When that vote came on the night before her anniversary, I think she was letting us know she still plans to help people."

The leading cause of death among teens is car accidents, caused by teen drivers. According to the Keeping Young Drivers Safe project - a massive effort by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and State Farm Insurance Cos. - most of the crashes are caused by distractions and/or inexperience.

One of the biggest distractions? The presence of other teens in the car. One study found that carrying one teenage passenger almost doubled the fatal- crash risk of teen drivers. The risk increased fivefold when two or more teen passengers were in the car.

There were seven teenagers in the car the night Lacey died. The SUV was driven by a 17-year-old. They were headed to the Poconos when the car hit the median strip and flipped over on the foggy, wet Pennsylvania Turnpike. No drugs or alcohol were involved.

As for inexperience, 16-year-old drivers have crash rates three times higher than 17-year-old drivers and five times higher than 18-year-old drivers. The rate drops with age (as the part of the brain affecting risk-taking behavior and judgment more fully develops).

So, HB67 would require 65 hours of driving experience for teens seeking a license, including at least 10 hours of nighttime driving and five hours of driving in inclement weather. It also would forbid junior drivers to have more than one passenger under age 18 in the car (exceptions are proposed for family members).

In states where restrictions like these exist, teen-caused crash fatalities and injuries have plunged.

In other words, the laws protect teens from themselves - and the rest of us from them.

"If we'd known [about the statistics on teen driving], I believe things would've turned out differently for Lacey," Denise said yesterday, her voice heavy with regret as she watched over the toddlers she baby-sits in her home day-care. "We would've made different decisions."

I worry that HB67 might not go the distance: An amendment pasted onto it calls for tougher penalties for all drivers (not just teens) whose distracted driving is determined to have been caused by cell-phone use or other behaviors that pull our focus elsewhere.

Cell-phone use while driving is still a hot-button issue, whereas the studies supporting restricted teen driving are rock-solid.

"It's frustrating," says Rep. Watson. "On its own, I believe Lacey's Law would pass overwhelmingly. This might hold it up."

Unless wiser heads strip the amendment from HB67 so that each might get a fair shake. (To lobby for Lacey's Law, e-mail the Senate Transportation Committee's chairman, Rob Wunderling: rwonderling@pasen.gov)

Nothing would make the Gallaghers feel more gratified than to have a bit of Lacey live on, in such a helpful way.

Meanwhile, Lacey will soon live on in another way. Her brother Sean's fiancée is expecting a daughter this summer.

They plan to name her Lacey. *

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns: http://go.philly.com/polaneczky. Read Ronnie's blog at http://go.philly.com/ronnieblog.

CORRECTION:

Ronnie Polaneczky's column yesterday incorrectly reported that State Rep. Katharine Watson (R-Bucks) had proposed naming a restricted teen-driving bill after deceased Little Flower student Lacey Gallagher. In fact, it was State Rep. John Sabatina (D-Philadelphia) who wrote the amendment stating that the new law, if passed, would be called "Lacey's Law." Ronnie regrets the error.