Police Find Several Quince Orchard High School Drivers Without Seat Belts, On Phone

A recent survey of drivers exiting revealed many students are not wearing seat belts and some are driving while talking on cell phones.

Montgomery County Police Captain Thomas Didone conducted the survey of student drivers earlier this year, with the help of his interns.

On one afternoon in January, the plain-clothed interns counted 22 students driving without seat belts as they exited Quince Orchard. They spotted another 12 backseat passengers not wearing seat belts and seven drivers talking on cell phones, Didone told Patch.

Maryland law requires all passengers under the age of 18 riding with a driver with provisional license wear a seatbelt at all times. The law also states, provisional drivers license holders under the age of 18 are not allowed to use cell phones while driving.

Talking on a is prohibited for all Maryland drivers.

Didone spoke about the dangers of teen driving at a .

“Your new driving 16-year-old is the most dangerous driver on the road,” he told parents at the meeting. “Either because they are not very confident and they don’t have great skills or their over confident and their high risk takers.”

In order to bring awareness to the problem of teens using cell phones and not wearing seatbelts, Didone has conducted these surveys at all area high schools. On average, the survey has revealed 22 front seat passengers and drivers leaving schools are not wearing seatbelts, 13 back seat passengers are not wearing seatbelts and 3.7 percent of drivers are on the phone, Didone said.

Didone said he plans to create a public service announcement on his findings and conduct enforcement in the future. Any driver spotted without a seatbelt or using a cell phone will be pulled over by police officers, he said.