In 2003, over half of Georgia’s 159 counties had at least one death related to teenage driving, according to statistics from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

In that same year, 192 of Georgia’s 1,610 vehicle fatalities occurred to teens between the ages of 15 to 19.

Hoping to curb the sometimes deadly effect of inexperienced teenagers getting behind the wheel, a local law firm will be conducting a driving school beginning Monday, Feb. 13.

Parker and Lundy law firm will hold the second annual Safe and Defensive Driving School for two weeks.

Attorney Bill Lundy said the decision behind the formation

of the driving school came after handling many lawsuits involving teen drivers.

“I was seeing the same conduct by teenage drivers over and over again,” said Lundy. “It occurred to me that it is not always true that teenage drivers are simply driving irresponsibly, oftentimes, it is a lack of experience and familiarity with a particular driving situation that causes bad wrecks.”

Lundy cited a common cause of accidents: over-correction. “We have handled many cases where a teenage driver over-corrects and drives back across the center line and hits someone head-on,” Lundy said.

The class will cover several topics like driving in bad weather and avoiding distractions, like cell phones, that teen drivers can benefit from. Driving techniques, driving on unfamiliar roads and in construction zones will also be discussed, Lundy said.

As the second driving school the law firm has hosted, Lundy said their first goal is to get the teens’ attention.

“We start the first day of class showing graphic and real photos of teenagers who died and were injured badly in wrecks,” Lundy said. “The photos are solemn and sad and tend to get everyone’s attention right off the bat … Any parent with a teenager should absolutely send their child to this course.”

Local law enforcement will also be present during the school, Lundy said. “We have police officers Kelley McLendon and Tony Gravitt, ambulance attendants and others that contribute time to this class. “

The class is limited to the first 15 students to sign up. Parents can sign-up by calling 770-748-5643. Participants must be between the age of 15 through 19 to sign up.