LEBANON — Ohio troopers today begin a crackdown on young drivers' dangerous behavior because they hope to prevent situations like the Sept. 6 Warren County crash that injured seven teens.

        “With all of these recent crashes, it's obvious that there's a problem and we've got to do something about it,” Sgt. Jim Adams of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Lebanon Post said Saturday,

        Besides continuing to offer safety programs for schools and groups, officers will increase patrols in and near school zones and at school events, including football games.

        “We are going to have a zero-tolerance attitude toward seat-belt offenses,” said Sgt. Adams, adding that is a major factor in a number of serious wrecks involving teen drivers.

        On Friday, a 16-year-old Springboro girl was charged with six vehicular assault charges — fourth-degree felonies if she were an adult — as a result of the traffic crash that seriously hurt her and six friends.

        Police allege the teen, whose name the Enquirer is withholding because she is a juvenile, was driving a friend's sport-utility vehicle at 93 mph in a 55-mph zone along Ohio 741 in Warren County's Clearcreek Township.

        The teens were headed for a football game between Springboro and Edgewood when the 1998 Ford Explorer went out of control and rolled over several times, ejecting the driver and its six passengers.

        None were wearing seat belts, police said.

        On Saturday, the driver and three others remained hospitalized. No date has been set for her appearance in Warren County Juvenile Court.

        The driver's mother described her daughter as “an excellent child. She is on the honor roll at Springboro High School, works at a local business and baby-sits.”

        Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said it is unlikely that the teen would be tried as an adult, so the penalties against her are likely to be less than those an adult would face in a similar circumstance.

        The girl's mother thinks the charges are “a little stiff,” considering that her daughter had been driving only since May and didn't intend for anyone to be hurt.

        But the mother agrees with a growing sentiment that lawmakers ought to make teens wait until they're older before they are permitted to drive. Drivers under 21 are responsible for a disproportionately large percentage of fatal and serious crashes, often involving unsafe speeds and failure to use seat belts, state figures show.

        Although the driver has been upgraded from serious to stable condition at Middletown Regional Hospital, she is expected to remain there for weeks, recovering from fractures to her back, pelvis, arm and both legs, her mother said.

        Ironically, the crash occurred the very day that the driver's best friend, Lauren Wiercinski, obtained her driver's license. The driver's mother said her daughter took the wheel because Lauren was leery of backing out of a driveway.

        Lauren, 16, has been discharged from Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. On Saturday, her brother, Adam, 13, was in fair condition at the hospital, where Angela Blevins, 16, and Josh Unglesby,15, are in serious condition.

        Eddie Deaton, 15, of Red Lion and Wick Makse, 15, of Lebanon, also have been released.

        Beginning today, troopers from Ohio Highway Patrol posts in Lebanon, Batavia, Hamilton, Xenia, Georgetown and Wilmington will randomly increase patrols near schools before and after classes throughout the area.

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