The death of one Rohnert Park teenager and severe injury of another in a high-speed car crash last week is focusing attention once again on the state law that prohibits inexperienced drivers from transporting young passengers without adult supervision.


The law generally is credited with reducing the number of teen auto fatalities, and the death of Kevin Carr-Grillo, 16, and critical injury of Chris Reynolds, 17, are painful reminders of the potential deadly mix of youth and motor vehicles.

"What we see is the more passengers, the more likely the (teen) driver will be distracted and start to show off and succumb to peer pressure and start to do things that are unsafe," said CHP Officer Barbara Upham.

Beth Dadko, coordinator of Sonoma County's Provisional License Action Network, said parents are the key to getting 16-year-olds to adhere to the license restrictions. Convenience, she said, isn't an excuse to allow a teen to drive others, including siblings, to school.

"Parents wait for that 16th birthday, excited that they won't have to schlep their children anymore," Dadko said. "But the responsibility is still there," she said. "The first year is the most risky."

Rohnert Park police continue to investigate the crash, though they did not respond to inquiries Monday. Officers haven't identified the driver because he is a juvenile and may face criminal charges, but friends and classmates said he is Tyler Canales, 17, of Rohnert Park. Police have said the driver had a provisional license issued six weeks before the deadly accident.

Teen drivers for their first year behind the wheel can't have passengers under 20 years old in their car unless accompanied by a licensed driver at least 25 years old. They also can't drive between midnight and 5 a.m. without a licensed driver over age 25.

On Thursday morning, Canales picked up the two teens and headed to class at El Camino Continuation School. On Camino Collegio the driver apparently was speeding and lost control, hitting a center divider and flipping the Honda Accord, police said. The vehicle is registered to Canales' mother, Barbie Buchanan.

Carr-Grillo died in the crash. Reynolds is reportedly being treated at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, and late last week had been listed in critical care. A hospital spokeswoman Monday would not confirm that Reynolds is a patient.

Canales was treated for minor injuries and released.

A study in 2006 found a 23 percent overall reduction in the per-capita crash involvement rate of 16-year-old drivers in California. Crashes went down more in the high-risk situations specifically addressed by graduated licensing -- nighttime crash rates went down 27 percent, and crash rates with teen passengers decreased 38 percent. The study was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

California adopted license restriuctions in 1998, becoming one of the first states to do so.

In Sonoma County, precise teen fatality statistics were not available Monday, though Upham said the numbers of teen deaths have dropped each year for the past few years. Carr-Grillo's death was the first teen traffic fatality in 2008, she said.

Traffic collisions remain the number one cause of death of teens. In California, teens make up 4 percent to 6 percent of licensed drivers but account for about double that rate of drivers causing fatal crashes, Upham said.

Upham frequently talks at high schools about why new drivers need to follow the strict license guidelines. She said this recent crash now will be part of her dialogue with teens.

"Most of them admit to doing it," Upham said. "Over 75 percent raise their hand," indicating they drive with friends and during hours they're not legally allowed to drive.

They understand why it's not smart, Upham said. But she knows they operate under the illusion it won't happen to them.

Teen passengers need to know they're most at risk if they're going to go riding with a teen driver, Upham said.

"Almost 70 percent of fatalities involving 15- to 19- year-olds occur when another teen is driving. It's the passenger primarily being killed," Upham said.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.