We are all, at times, lousy drivers.

We get distracted because there are lots of things to distract us. Driving a vehicle can seem like such an easy-to-do activity that we forget we are in command of a machine -- however big or small it is -- that is being propelled along with enough force to knock down concrete walls. The terrible consequences are too easily passed tot he background as we tool merrily along.

Only maturity and experience help us, most of us, at least, to understand the serious consequences of bad driving. And, as we get older, most of us reach that moment in time when we realize -- even if we never admit it out loud -- that we are not the world's greatest driver.

That is, in part, the thinking behind an effort by Rob and Jan Perry to push for more restrictions on teenaged drivers.

Monday night, the Perrys got the support of The Blue Mountains town council who supported their effort through a resolution that will be circulated to other municipalities and the provincial government.

Rob and Jan lost their son, Drew, on January 19, 2007 -- he was one of the five boys killed when the mini-van they were in collided with another vehicle on Highway 26 between Thornbury and Meaford.

There aren't words to describe the effect of that collision on this community and especially on its young people. The Perrys hope the restrictions they're suggesting might save other parents and other communities going through the same kind of loss we have known here.

In a submission to council, the Perrys cite research that says new drivers in their teens are almost three times more likely to be involved in a fatal or serious collision when they are carrying teenage passengers. And, they add, the more teenage passengers in the car, the greater the risk.

Statistics quoted in the submission say a 1998 study in Ontario "found that carrying one teenage passenger almost doubled the fatal crash risk of teen drivers compared to driving alone. The risk was five times higher when two or more teenagers were in the car."

(The stats quoted in the submission come from several sources, primarily the provincial Ministry of Transportation site,)

The statistics go on. Grey Bruce Health Unit data shows that between 2000 and 2003, of 33 deaths of teens aged 15 to 19, 26 were attributable to motor vehicle collisions. That's an average of six to seven deaths a year, the Perrys' document says.

The stats aren't as high at the provincial level -- about 31 per cent of deaths in that age group were the result of motor vehicle collisions. But that's still 389 deaths in four years and it's still the leading cause of death in that age group.

The couple also note that the Grey Bruce toll, at 79 per cent of deaths in the 15 to 19 age group, is more than double the provincial average.

And there's more. "Current data on crashes involving 16-year old drivers shows that having multiple teenage passengers in the vehicle is twice as likely to cause a fatal crash as alcohol-impaired driving"

Although graduated licencing has helped, in Ontario, Rob and Jan say teen drivers need a chance to gain more experience and maturity behind the wheel.

We tend to worry most about teens driving at night, out for a good time when they might be drinking or just plain having a good time. But statistics in the Perry submission point out that only two per cent of crashes involving teens happened between midnight and 6:30 a.m.

They're far more likely to be involved in a collision during the morning and afternoon school commute times.

What the Perrys are advocating is a set of changes to the graduated licence system. The first would extend to 24 hours the restriction on the number of teen passengers -- no more than one -- riding with a teenage driver (aged 19 years and under, excluding immediate family). Currently that rule applies only from midnight to 5 a.m.

Secondly, they're calling for a restriction on multiple passengers in the vehicle, aged 19 years and under, to apply for a full year instead of the current six months.

And they'd like to see a restriction, after the first full year of driving, allowing only three passengers or less in a car until the driver graduates from a G2 to G licence or reaches the age of 20 years.

"They should not be learning to drive with a car full of friends," Jan Perry told town council, Monday.

Their effort got the support of council, although Councillor John McKean, whose nephew Andrew was also killed in that collision, said he's worried that teens in rural areas could face a hardship if stricter regulations limit their ability to drive to events in town. Nonetheless, McKean supports the effort.

There are a lot of skills in our lives that we have to learn by doing. Driving is one of them. We'll probably never stop having tragedies that take young lives. But we have to do what we can to ensure that young people fully understand that driving is a dangerous activity and there may be no do-overs if you mess it up.