It wasn't long ago that a mother I know was excitedly telling me her son had passed his test and received his driver's license.

She was clapping her hands and practically hopping like a cheerleader. I was smiling and congratulatory on the outside but feeling dread on the inside.

I've seen what cars can do to people even when drivers are experienced and drive with the best of intentions. I cringe every time we get a new young driver.

Not that they're automatically bad. It's just that they add to the risks of the road. One more speeding car.

The accidents you see reported in The Royal Register come from a Washington State Patrol region that stretches from Coulee City to Snoqualmie Pass and down to Yakima County.

You see only those that occur within Grant County or Othello or involve people from that area. And you see only the ones involving a fatality or an injury. All of the rest of the memos - vastly more than you see - are tossed.

But I look at them all.

One that I got on March 1 really drew my attention. Her name was Maria T. Miranda Zavala, of Yakima. She died all alone where I-82 and I-90 meet near Ellensburg.

I didn't know Maria, but I felt sadness. She could have left some now motherless children. Certainly she left many broken hearts among parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Maria was 29. So we can assume she was an experienced driver. Yet she had an accident that left state patrolmen puzzled.

Maria was on the I-82 exit onto I-90 West. I know that gentle, sweeping curve well. Her car left the right side of the roadway, rolled and ended on its top.

According to the WSP memo, the cause was still under investigation.

One thing the WSP was sure about was that Maria was not wearing a seat belt. It's certain she was tossed around as the car rolled.

And that is the point of this column, my fear that too many young people don't fear the dangers of the car or the road. Some fail to wear seat belts because they can't believe a tragedy will happen to them.

In 1993, my daughter Brenda was one of seven youngsters in a car. She was the one without a seat belt when the car left the right side of the roadway and rolled.

Twenty years later, the finality of her brief life and death has still not sunk in.

There will be numerous new drivers this year. If you're in a position to influence them toward safety, do it.