New's Stories

Here are some news clips. The video was provided by Global TV and the News Paper articles were provided by The Sherwood Park News, Edmonton Journal, & St. Albert Gazette

Heartbroken mother pushing for change
Moneca Melan wants suspensions for unruly drivers with GDLs

by Dave S. Clark
Wednesday July 18, 2007

Melissa Melan, who lost her life in a car crash in September 2006.

Moneca Melan is continuing to fight for changes to graduated driver’s licencing in order to get licences suspended for those who drive dangerously or speed excessively.
Melan’s 15-year-old daughter Melissa was killed in a crash on Highway 21 in Sept. 2006. The underage driver of the vehicle she was in, who has a graduated licence, is still driving despite being charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death. He is awaiting trial in October.
But Melissa’s mother believes anyone in that situation shouldn’t be allowed to drive.
"I want people to realize driving is a privilege, not a right," she said.
For the past several months, Melan has been collecting signatures for a petition that states any driver with a graduated licence, who has been charged in a collision that caused serious injury or death should lose their licence pending a review.
She has already submitted over 1,000 names to the provincial government and she expects she has about 1,200 other names ready to submit when the next legislative session starts in the fall. She also knows there are many out there who want to sign the petition but haven’t done so yet.
So far the support has been amazing, said Melan. Last month she met with Alberta Transportation minister Luke Ouellette.

"It was very encouraging," said Melan. "He was very receptive."
Last week, Melan met with Advanced Education minister and St. Albert MLA Doug Horner to discuss the issue, which also went very well.
According to Jerry Bellikka, a spokesman for Alberta Transportation, the minister is taking a look at what can be done in the future. He said there are some potential legal hurdles being that the issue deals with a Criminal Code offence.
Melan said even if the province considered suspensions for those who were excessively speeding (which is not a Criminal Code offence) she would view that as a victory.
"Speed is as dangerous as alcohol. Licences can be suspended if alcohol is suspected and they need to start looking at speeding that way," she said.
But the petition didn’t just impress government officials, many others are positive about it too.
"I’d say 99 per cent of the reaction is ‘you’re kidding. This isn’t right,’" said Melan.
She said she feels very strongly about this cause, not just because her daughter, but because of the other lives it could save.
"I’m trying to right a wrong and be a voice," she said. "I always told my kids one person can make a difference and I can."
Melan said government staff have told her the most effective way for people to get change is to have residents contact their own MLAs about the issue.
To find out where you can sign the petition, visit www.livetrueformelissa.net.
dclark@sherwoodparknews.com

St. Albert Gazette- July 14th, 2007

Teens calling for change

Petition calls on government to change graduated licensing program

By Cory Hare

Staff Writer

A St. Albert teen wants the provincial government to change the rules governing young drivers so those who cause serious accidents automatically have their licences suspended, even before they are found guilty of an offence.

Caitlin Boyd, a 17-year-old Bellerose Composite High School student, lost her close friend Levi Dorn in a horrific car crash between Sherwood Park and Fort Saskatchewan last September. The crash claimed the lives of Dorn, then 16, and Melissa Melan, then 15.

A young driver, who is now 17, allegedly caused the crash while travelling 170 km/h. His trial is set to begin Oct. 11 in Sherwood Park.

Boyd and Melan’s mother Moneca are upset that the young man is still allowed to drive while awaiting trial. For the past few months they’ve been circulating a petition calling on the government to change the rules around the graduated licences that govern new drivers.

"If they’re at fault for causing a death then I don’t think that they should be driving. I don’t think it’s fair to the victims or their families," Boyd said.

There are no provisions that allow for a suspension prior to being found guilty of an offence.

Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette met with Moneca Melan a couple of weeks ago, said ministry spokesman Jerry Bellikka. While the department is looking at her idea, it hasn’t made a decision and has some concerns.

"There are number of issues we have to look at, one of which is due process," Bellikka said, noting that suspending a person’s licence before they are convicted could be sticky from a legal standpoint.

"It is done in some other circumstances – impaired driving is one – but impaired driving is a Criminal Code offence as opposed to a Traffic Safety Act offence," he said.

To Boyd, the issue is cut and dry.

"People should have their licence suspended until at least the trial because they’ve obviously done something wrong," she said.

Organizers of the petition plan to present it to the legislature some time this fall.

So far Melan has collected more than 1,000 signatures and Boyd has about 45.

Alberta’s graduated licence system allows young people to earn a learner’s permit at 14, a probationary licence at 16 and a full licence after two years as a probationary driver. Learners are barred from driving between midnight and 5 a.m.

The system is up for a scheduled review this fall. The Alberta Motor Association has called on the government to impose further limits on the number of passengers in a new driver’s vehicle. Existing provisions limit the number of passengers to the number of seat belts.

Anyone interested in signing the petition or learning more about it can visit www.livetrueformelissa.net or call Boyd at 690-3316.

Edmonton Journal Editorial- April 10th, 2007

Moneca Melan lived through every parent's worst nightmare last September. Only hours after she had a quick dinner with her daughter, police showed up at her Sherwood Park home. Melissa, 15, and her boyfriend had been killed in a crash in a speeding car. The 16-year-old driver, charged with dangerous driving causing death, will be in court next fall.

The tragedy launched Melan on a campaign to strengthen Alberta's graduated driver's licence in the hope of saving other young lives.

Alberta's graduated licensing places fewer restrictions on new drivers than other provinces. The only special condition is that holders of the two-year probationary licence consume no alcohol at all. At the end of the two years (that is, when they are at least 18 years old), they take an advanced drivers test.

Unlike some other provinces and many U.S. jurisdictions, Alberta has no restriction on night driving and no restriction on the number of passengers allowed in the car with a teenage driver. As the Alberta Motor Association points out, adding both of those measures would help reduce deaths and the collision rate among teens.

Melan raises another flaw she discovered when the teen charged in her daughter's death drove up to his court appearance. In short, a driver involved in a serious collision can stay behind the wheel until his or her charges get to court -- which can take up to a year. Melan wants to see teen drivers involved in serious crashes treated the same way as drunk drivers: immediate suspension of their licence until a judge hears the case.

Melan's proposal is worth consideration. Drunk drivers are put off the road right away because they are a danger to the public. That measure also sends an immediate message about society's condemnation of drinking and driving.

Why not send the same blunt message to teenage drivers when an accident involves excessive speed? Given the months it may take to get to court, the penalty can be a long way from the crime.

The transportation department says the first review of Alberta's graduated licence system, introduced in May 2003, will be ready this summer.

The department expects to see a decline in accident rates. But that's not the only standard it has to meet.

Provinces with more restrictive licences, and a higher age limit for the learner's permit, have shown impressive results that Alberta will be measured against. In Ontario, for instance, the collision rate for new drivers dropped by 31 per cent in the first five years of its graduated licence. In that province, teenagers must be 16 to get a learner's permit and cannot be behind the wheel after midnight.

In Manitoba, probationary teen drivers can carry only one other passenger for late-night driving. In Nova Scotia, probationary drivers cannot be behind the wheel after midnight.

Teenagers are known for their risky behavior, often despite parents' best efforts. As the AMA's Walter Barta points out, recent research also shows that in early teen years, the brain is still being developed. At 14 years of age, a person is not necessarily in a position to make a considered and sound judgment in the difficult situations that driving sometimes involves.

That suggests it's time for Alberta to rethink its 14-year age limit for acquiring a learner's permit. (Saskatchewan is next at 15 years, while all other provinces are 16 years.)

Sadly, just this week, this community felt the shock of another terrible accident involving teens, speed, alcohol and late-night driving. A 16-year-old drove a van full of teenagers west on Ellerslie Road at 34th Street, at speeds police estimate up to 190 km/h, before it rolled four or five times, sending one teenager to hospital with terrible injuries.

That's exactly the kind of dangerous situation the province should be working hard to discourage. Restrictions on night driving and peer passengers would send a powerful message.