Parents Who Enable Underage Drivers
In an earlier post today, I talked about how 14-year-old was killed Saturday when the car she was riding in crashed. The driver of that car was 15-year-old Shawn Ledesma.
Carreras’s family is focusing on the fact that the girl pulled a “bait and switch” on them, along with two other teens. They told their families they were spending Saturday night at a friend’s house. Instead, the grandfather of one of the girls drove them all to the Shoppes at Park Place, a mall in Pinellas Park. Why? Because he thought one of the other parents was going to pick up all of the girls later that night.
Instead, all three girls got into the car driven by Ledesma. By the end of the night, Carreras was dead.
Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins said an investigation is under way into who will be held responsible for the accident. Speed and carelessness are factors. Also in the spotlight is the fact that Ledesma’s mother allowed Shawn, who has only a learner’s permit, to take the Saturn.
This is not the first time Ledesma has been in trouble. His name came up as part of report that there was to be a brawl near his high school, but the brawl never occurred. He was also arrested last year after being accused of stealing cold medication from a Winn-Dixie.
My mind still keeps flipping back to the fact that the kid’s mother ALLOWED him to use her car. She willingly allowed her son to break numerous laws, including driving with someone over 21 in the passenger seat and driving after dark.
She should be prosecuted just as harshly as should her son.
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