'Increase the driving age. Give them bicycles to ride'
EUGENE, Ore. -- A mother who said she is fighting to increase the driving age in Oregon after losing her 10-year-old son to a crash caused by a 16-year-old driver exactly five years ago to the day was a one woman protest in front of the Department of Motor Vehicle office in West Eugene on Monday.
“Five years ago on a Monday, August 27, he was killed by a 16-year-old driver, and he was walking his bicycle across the street,” said Marina Hajek in front of the DMV office.
That 16-year-old driver was sentenced to 8 days in a juvenile detention after a conviction of criminally negligent homicide for killing Marina’s son, Vaclav Hajek.
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.
“Increase the driving age,” said Hajek. “Give them bicycles to ride.”
Hajek said she believes that her son’s life could have been spared if the teenager that killed him would have had another year to mature before getting behind the wheel.
Nearby the protest, Eugene 4J School District guest art teacher Mara Thygeson drove up to praise Hajek’s efforts.
“Sixteen-year-olds? Are you kidding? Their frontal lobes aren’t even developed all the way yet,” said Thygeson, still inside her car in the DMV parking lot. “They have no judgment.”
But more than sparking change, Hajek said she just wants her son back.
"I would like him to be here,” she said, “If something like this happened to his friend, he would be here fighting.”
So to keep Vaclav’s memory alive, Hajek said she will fight to raise the driving age in Oregon from 16 to 17.
“And especially in Eugene, where they could be riding their bicycles,” said Hajek. “It’s a green city, no?”
Hajek said she knows that she has an uphill battle ahead, but has a message for the Emerald City.
“If you don't want your children to be killing other children, or risking the lives of their passengers, who are young too, don't let them drive until later,” she said.
Hajek said she will be at the DMV in West Eugene from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. every Monday for the next two months.
And in January, she said she wants to talk with law makers in Salem.
Hajek added that anyone who shares her beliefs about the driving age in Oregon is welcome to join her protest.
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i do not believe raising the age is needed for drivers but i do believe the dmv drivers testers need to be a lot more picky .most testers haven`t even read the new dmv manuals.i see drivers every day crossing yellow lines,going out of the lane,speeding,stopping 2 feet from car in front of them,talking on cell phones,and not using turn signals.what we need is a new Oregon Vehicle Trafic Force someone who can ticket all the bad drivers who teach there kids how to drive.This group would only do traffic stops and would ticket like a parking meter maid.They would pull you over print out a ticket and give it to you .no licence insurance check or anything just the ticket.if you dont pay then you get the boot on your car and then towed if not payed .lets see how many parents let there kids drive when there cars keep getting ticketed.
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the money could then be used for things such as school funding or jail beds so convicted murders get more then eight days in juvi .
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for all you posters on this web page instead of agreeing or disagreeing come up with reasonable ideas to stop the problemÂ
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@Brian Cravens Comrade, you are what is wrong with America
Flight simulators are used to train pilots.  If there were driving simulators, then new drivers could learn how to react to many different driving situations in a short amount of time, and without endangering others.  Maybe such  simulators exist and I just haven't heard of them.  But I think that time practicing is the most important factor in learning safe driving -- not written tests and not the age of the new driver. Â
yes, raise the driving age... so kids cant get to work, cant make their own way in life.. smart.. guess what.. ppl suck at driving when they are new. period! it is a learned skillset. one that fades if not used.. want safer drivers? give more knowledge about driving at a younger age. parents need to teach their own damn kids about being responsible!
I don't feel like we need any new laws regarding the age to get one's drivers license,but perhaps change the system in regards to how you are able to get your license. Since the state and schools are broke and can not offer drivers ed. maybe we should change it so that you go to the DMV and take the written test,and if you pass you are issued a permit that ONLY allows you to operate a vehicle with a driving instructor certified by the state,and that is all you can use it for,after a certain amount of time behind the wheel you take another series of tests and then are issued a drivers license,and raise the fee's on citations for young drivers until they are of a certain age,like triple them. We don't need any new laws,we need to enforce the ones already on the books,or scrap the system and totally change it. This was a terrible accident,and sadly they happen from time to time,and we can't change the law everytime someone gets killed in an accident. I'm for overhauling the system,not changing the age limit. Better educated drivers=better drivers.
every time a kid dies we need to make a law to prevent a similar death.so by the end of the year,we should not be allowed to walk talk use cell phones drink eat shower......
 @Iam1woody
Nicely said. I totally agree with you
 @sara .I forgot to add that this lady has been through a lot of pain and does have my sympathies,just not my vote.I understand her point of view and wish her well,and you know.
@Iam1woody You are correct in my opinion, we can't make a law for everything that happens. Tragedy strikes often, and it is a terrible thing especially for those that are the closest to it, but there will always be such occurances.
Just more goverment intrusion into parents making decisions for their children. I'm sorry for those familys who lose a loved one to someone driving a car, but to suggest that the entire age group should be punished for one persons crime is a knee jerk reaction. So we give kids bikes to ride and they ride out in front of cars because they don't have the judgement to stay in the bike lanes? This nanny state stuff is getting just silly. Why don't we just wrap our kids in layers of bubble wrap and lock them in their rooms to protect them from life. They have to be allowed to grow up sometime and postponing it year isn't going to make them any more grown up if the parents haven't taught them to behave that way.
 @valsmaÂ
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I agree with you.
It occurs to me that it was not safe for her son to ride his bike, yet she wants 16 year olds to ride bikes. Â Sounds like she hopes the same thing happens to other children. Â I understand her pain, but who lets a 10 year old ride a bike on the street without supervision in this day and age? Maturity has little to do with age. I have known 14 year olds who are more mature and prepared to learn to drive than some 24 year olds who have no business being behind the wheel.
Leave it the same. Outlaw bicycles on the road.Â
@givupongod Stop with the outlawing already, just accept the risks of the road.
 @Fancy Jack  @givupongod I agree no more outlawing. And I would love it if pedestrians would accept the risk of the road. But no matter what. If I hit a fool on his/her bike on C.G. Loraine hwy. it is going to be my fault no matter what. So either change the law that pedestrians are GOD. Or keep them off the road.
@givupongod @Fancy Jack I think if you are on a bicycle they need to enforce that you are a vehicle, period. If you wish to have pedestrian right of ways such as at a crosswalk you should be required to get off & walk the bike. How about this idea: If you are on a road with a speed limit greater than 30mph (unless you can do better then 20mph & maintain it & then make it 35mph roads) you are to be considered a slow moving vehicle & must have all the markers required of such & if you stack up say 8 or ten vehicles behind you you miust pull over & allow the backed up traffic to pass. And fix this idiocy where if a pedestrian decides to jaywalk they are automatically considered a victim & seemingly unable to be at fault for the resulting accident.
Of course, no mention of the fact that her son was encouraged to JAYWALK mid block by another driver who was in the other lane going southbound on that same street. The 16 yr old driver was speeding & simply passed a vehicle stopped in the next lane of street. Yes, both are violations of the traffic laws(and the one where you aren't supposed to just go past a stopped vehicle in an adjacent lane one is rather poorly known) but if the damn driver who stopped in the street to allow Vaclav to cross hadn't done that then little Vaclav might not have walked/rode his bike in front of traffic that had the right of way.  Also, if Vaclav hadn't been too lazy to go up or down the street less then 100 yards to a traffic light controlled intersection with controlled crosswalks he never would have been in a position to be hit illegally crossing the street mid-block. People need to teach their kids to use their brains & take responsibility for doing illegal (or simply stupid) things that cause them to get hurt instead of blaming others.
 @Jbrwoky Yes I remember the story. An adult driver stopped to encourage a kid to jay walk. It was the pedestrians fault. People need to take their right of way like they are supposed to. I see people do this all the time here in Cottage Grove. They are do gooders who only want to make themselves feel good. And at the same time endangering everyone around them.
 @givupongod there was a student crossing and the teen driver was going 65 in a 35
 @givupongod  @Jbrwoky there was a student crossing and the teen driver was going 65 in a 35
@mk @givupongod @Jbrwoky Actually, at the time there was NO crosswalk where he JAYWALKED across the road. Vaclav & the stupid driver who encouraged him to cross illegally are, at least, equally at fault for the accident as the speeding driver. If he had gone either up or down the block to the traffic light controlled intersections then the driver who hit him would have had to ignore a traffic light signaling to stop during the time that the kid was crossing the street. So, no, there was no "student crossing" there was a kid in too much of a hurry to bother to go up or down the street a little ways & wait for a light who was hit & killed by a teen who was driving faster then the legal speed limit because he was in a hurry & not expecting any person to be so stupid as to cross a street in front of moving vehicles. All accentuated by some dimwitted person who thinks it's being nice to stop & let someone jaywalk instead of expecting them to walk or ride their bicycle a very short way to a crosswalk. Â
@givupongod
Of course with the new laws no one has bothered to clarify that jaywalking is still illegal & pedestrians dont' legally have the right of way if there isn't a marked crosswalk or are at a intersection of streets where if it isn't marked there is an inferred crosswalk. Instead everyone seems to believe that they can cross anywhere & traffic is supposed to slam on the brakes for them. Hell, the areas by the UofO are bad even for those crossing at streets because I have seen several people just walking along & step right into the street without even looking for traffic to find out if one is too close to stop without hitting them. Pedestrians texting are just as dangerous as drivers who text when they are oblivious to their surroundings like that.
@Jbrwoky You are absolutely correct about the problem with one driver stopping to be curteous, and someone else just barreling by, see it all the time, especially on west 11th with people pulling out of businesses. So many near misses. Add to that the problem with cell phones and texting. I feel sorry for this lady, but changing the age of driver's isn't going to fix the problem that generally plagues our society, lack of respect and common sense. Sorry Calgacus hope your shield dint git dinted.
@souptonuts courteous is not what it is when stopping mid block because someone wishes to jaywalk across a relatively busy street instead of walking/riding such a long distance as a hundred yards to use a crosswalk. The driver of that vehicle recklessly endangered Vaclav by stopping for him for no legal reason. As for a vehicle letting another out of a driveway it's not nearly the danger to anyone in another lane if the person leaving the driveway makes a legal turn into that first lane. All it does is slow up traffic in that lane, & hopefully everyone is paying attention & no rear endings happen.
Oregon needs to make Driver's Ed. MANDATORY. Oregon roads are filled with horrible drivers who were taught by horrible drivers. Letting a horrible driver decide when their kid is ready to drive is a deadly mistake. I know people will say Driver's Ed is expensive. If you can pay for fuel, maintenance and insurance then you can afford it.
 @kidcoach have you seen the price of gas lately?
@kidcoach Calm down Comrade, we do not need anymore rules, we need less Californians
Definitely put all the kids on bikes, so they can be mowed down by the octogenarians who are still allowed to make driving here impossible.
 @Calgacus lol oh thats funny one liners are hilarious
@Calgacus Bicycles are part of the Darwin cycle, if you are on a bike of any kind, you need to be removed from the gene pool if you go on the highway.
There's no accounting for a mother's grief, but this woman's energy would be better spent volunteering at a local driver's ed class.
@OregonOrator At this point her conduct is pathological.
The kid got 8 days in Juvie for murdering another child? Â WTH..If you old enough to drive, you old enough to due time that you are responsible for
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@Calgacus @Steven Manson The self appointed grammar, and English cop is on the loose again. Why don't you just state your opinion and leave everyone else alone.Â
Before my father would allow me to get my license I had to prove that I could drive safely and handle surprises, plus care for my car proporly. I thank my Pops for all those hours of driving lessons and even making me re-build my own engine when I needed it.
@Blahblahblah You had a good Dad, he taught you useful things, I was also fortunate being brought up on a ranch, we had to learn early and work hard. We were even green then, recycled our oil, by cleaning through a rope with a light bulb. Good Dad's are great.
Driver's licenses in Oregon are a privelege, not a right. Every parent should assess their childs driving skills and allow or disallow them to become licensed.  Parents have to be responsible and not pass that duty on to someone else. Watch your child, know what they are doing, and above all if you allow them to obtain a license make sure they fully understand the consequences of accidents. I totally disagree with Thygeson's remark that sixteen year olds have no judgement. She shouldn't even be a teacher, making remarks like that. She still has no judgement. There are and always have been risks associated with driving, and age is just part of the overall picture. Â
 @souptonuts I agree age isn't the only factor.  Some people drive at 16 better then other ever will.
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 @souptonuts HAH! ANYBODY over 16 with a birth certificate can get a DL in Oregon! One need look no further than the state of our freeways to ascertain this. As for your idea of "judgement, well...you've proven repeatedly on these boards that you're nothing but a bigot and a bully, so I'm not even going to consider you capable of understanding a word like "judgement."
 @Calgacus  @souptonuts Not true. You have to have had a learners permit for a certain amount of time. And someone has to verify you have driven so many hours. And then you have to pass a driving test. And an eye test. You also have to supply the car to be tested in. With proof of car insurance. Not any 16 year old with a birth certificate can do that.
@Calgacus @souptonuts Boy, somebody really did a number on you.
If you do not want to die on the higway, stay off the highway or accept the risks.
 @Fancy Jack Definitely wise words for Big Foot hoaxers.
 @Fancy Jack Just as we have laws to prevent people from driving while under the influence of intoxicants, laws the regulate maximum speed limits, and laws that make having insurance mandatory, we can have and CHANGE laws that set the minimum age at which minors are legal to drive. Brain science has come a long way in the last 10 years and has made clear that the teenage brain has a ways to go before it comprehends risks and responsibilities. Minors, and anyone else seeking to obtain a driver's license, should have to prove they are competent to drive via standardized written and rigorous driving tests.
@the I believe in the right of way and that all citizens should be allowed to use it with out government obstacles, we used to buy an automobile and learn to drive on the way home, but there was no money for the government, so, we paid a fee and they sent our license to us in the mail, then registration and license plates and so on. Been driving since I was twelve, no tickets in the last 25 years. Teenagers will out perform the average citizen when driving, better eyesight, faster reflexes, and judgement as sound as any other driver. If we stopped labeling folks as too young or old or drunk and simply identified each group with a number say one for young and two for old and three for drunk, none of these numbers would be the top killers on the higheway, nor would the have the highest accident rate, those stats belong to the more mature and mentally sound unimpaired folks. There was a time in Oregon when kids decided to go to high school like kids today decide to go to college, so after eighth grade you got your diploma and went to work and you drove and you were expected to do a days work, we have no expectation from our youth and as a result we diminish them, you used to be a man at 14, sad what we have turned into, the word minor has the same offensive ring as words we use to describe minorities. The current laws we have are about raising revenue, nothing more.
@PleaseBeSmart Your arguement has been hashed out before by minds sharper than yours, the arguement you offer was proposed to prevent youths from being held accountable for capital crimes for which it was proposed they be tried as adults, the courts after hearing all the science involved established that youths as young as 14 possess the judgement and critical thinking necessary to be held accountable as adults for their crimes. Driving seems trivial when compared to murder.Â
 @Fancy Jack The areas of the brain which govern judgement aren't finished developing in minors, so it's impossible for them to have sound judgement. But don't take my word for it... why don't you go look something up for once. =/
@OregonOrator I am glad that the old folks are able to avoid hitting you, when you get older your driving will improve.
@Fancy Jack There have been licenses required on moving vehicles in certain parts of this country since horse and buckboard days. And plates have been on cars since just about 1903 in every major city.
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But having said that, I drive for a living, putting on about 4-6 thousand miles a month. I can truthfully say that almost every single "near-miss" I have had has been the result of a person obviously too old to be behind the wheel of the vehicle, usually jamming across three lanes without looking, to get into a parking lot or side street.
@the @Fancy Jack So, the, when did they stop written and driving tests in Oregon.