LAUREL — Laurel freshman Hollyanna Patterson is spending part of her summer behind the wheel and under the watchful eye of her grandmother. The homeschooled teen is taking driver’s education through Laurel High School.
On a short mock errand run to Walmart—a mile and a half from the high school—Hollyanna navigated Laurel’s roads with her grandma, Nancy Patterson.
Ride along with a Laurel teen driver and her grandma below:
“I love her to death. She has a sister, too, that I love,” said Nancy Patterson.
While the trip may be brief, the stakes are serious. In Montana, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens, accounting for nearly one in three adolescent fatalities, among the highest teen driver death rates in the nation.
That is why Nancy plays the role of backseat coach.
“Take her time,” she advised. “Not to be in a big hurry to get here or there. This world is a fast-paced place.”
For Hollyanna, that kind of patience is key.
“I think I pay more attention to the gas because I have to watch myself to make sure I don’t go too fast or too slow,” said Hollyanna. “Just trying to predict what other people are going to do... sometimes people don’t put on their blinkers.”
With friends already hitting the road, the pressure to keep up is real, but for Hollyanna and her grandma, getting there safely matters more than getting there first.
