[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN COMMEMORATION OF TEENAGE DRIVER SAFETY AWARENESS DAY AND IN MEMORY 
                       OF ANTHONY JOSEPH TELESCA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM SAXTON

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2002

  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the creation of the 
Teenage Driver Safety Awareness Day at Shawnee High School located in 
Medford Township, NJ in my district. This annual day was started in 
memory of one of my constituents, Anthony Joseph Telesca, who died on 
December 5, 2000, at the young age of 16, as the sole passenger in a 
one-car accident. Anthony lost his life as a result of reckless 
driving, and this great tragedy has been a living nightmare for 
Anthony's family and friends who love and miss him terribly.
  Sadly, Anthony is not the only victim of reckless driving. There are 
some astounding statistics regarding teenage driving that I would like 
to share with my colleagues: 14 percent of all deaths due to motor 
vehicle accidents are teen drivers; teen driver deaths due to motor 
vehicle accidents occur on weekends 53 percent of the time; teen 
drivers killed in motor vehicle accidents had a youth passenger in 
automobile 45 percent of the time; more than one-third of drivers 
fatally injured in automobiles are as a result of speed related 
accidents; more than any age group, teens are likely to be involved in 
a single vehicle crash; and this age group makes up 7 percent of 
licensed drivers, but suffers 14 percent of fatalities and 20 percent 
of all reported accidents.
  As a result of Anthony's tragic death, The Anthony Telesca Memorial 
Foundation was created to work with local high school and law 
enforcement officials to increase driver safety awareness amongst 
teenagers.
  I commend Anthony's family and friends for starting this effort 
towards educating the public, and teens especially, about the dangers 
of reckless driving. Programs like this one need to take place all over 
our country in order to reduce the sky-rocketing number of teenage 
driving accidents. Educating teenagers to drive safe is our only hope 
to prevent tragic and senseless accidents from happening.

                          ____________________