By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The mothers of four teens killed in an Aug. 12, 2000, accident are working to improve highway safety through billboards and legislation. | ZOOM |

There are good days when their laughter is loud and long - when memories of happy moments flow freely.

Those days are matched by times of tears - when the anger, frustration and hurt are almost incapacitating.

Kathy McRoberts, Kim Schnelle, Tammy Polley and Tammy Smith are bound by a determination to keep others from going through what they have experienced.

They are the mothers of four Clermont County teens killed in a 2002 car crash in Clinton County.

And as the 18-year-old front-seat passenger convicted of causing the fatal crash is sentenced today, these four women have resolved to work even harder to educate teens about safe driving.

"We are trying to make it better for everyone," McRoberts said Thursday. "This has got to end."

Of the 5,341 teens killed in crashes nationwide in 2001, two-thirds were not wearing seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Vehicle accidents still rank among the leading causes of death for teenagers, according to other national traffic statistics.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore have found that the chances of a serious car crash increase when other young people ride in an automobile driven by a teen.

So great is the problem that last year the National Transportation Safety Board began recommending states consider limiting the number of passengers in a young driver's vehicle.

According to the NTSB, between 1997 and 2001, 16,656 people died in crashes involving drivers ages 14 to 17.

The four mothers have teamed with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and formed a nonprofit organization called Caring Ladies Increasing Community Knowledge (CLICK). The group is responsible for billboards along Clermont County roads that honor their children and urge motorists to drive safely.

Jennifer McRoberts, 16; Jessie King, 16; Natasha Schnelle, 17; and Lester Smith, 16, were among a group of six Goshen High School students on their way to Monroe Falls Aug. 12, 2000, for a swim. They rode in the back seat.

According to court testimony, the then-16-year-old driver lost control after the then-17-year-old front seat passenger jerked the steering wheel. The car went off Ohio 28 and crashed, killing the four in the back seat, none of whom was wearing a seat belt.

In May, the driver pleaded guilty to charges of speeding and driving with a suspended license. She lost her driver's license for two years and was ordered to serve probation and do 250 hours of community service.

Last month, the front-seat passenger was found guilty of four counts of reckless homicide. "This is a tragedy," said Tom Heekin, attorney for the young man being sentenced today. He didn't want to say more about the case Thursday.

The teen is to be sentenced at 2 p.m. today in Clinton County Juvenile Court and could be ordered detained in juvenile detention until he is 21.

McRoberts and the other mothers are hoping the driver and the front-seat passenger have learned something from this tragedy.

"I would hope they have learned that their driving habits need to be changed and that they need to be more responsible," she said, adding that each woman plans to speak at the sentencing hearing.

Kim Schnelle, the mother of Natasha Schnelle, has said she hates the word "accident."

"This was no accident," Schnelle said during the front-seat passenger's trial. "Every decision made in that car was deliberate."

Forgiveness is still a difficult subject for the foursome.

"We liken what happened to murder," McRoberts said. "We still feel the effects (of our children's deaths), and we will for a long time.

"The hardest part of this whole thing besides losing our children ... has been the waiting for the criminal process to be over," McRoberts said. "We just all want to get that part over."

Tuesday, CLICK will hold its first official board meeting. The group has 15 members.

McRoberts said the group will work on pinpointing types of legislation - such as making seat belt laws tougher - that could be enacted to increase motorist safety.

For more information about the group's activities, e-mail caringladies@aol.com.

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com