Ronnie Polaneczky: LACEY'S LAW: A LIFE TO SAVE MANY

THE HARDEST PHASE of Denise Gallagher's life has been book-ended by phone calls.

The first came in the early hours of April 28, 2007, when Denise learned that her 18-year-old daughter, Lacey, had been killed in a prom-night car wreck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The second came two weeks ago, when Rep. Kathy Watson, R-Bucks, phoned with the stunning news that House Bill 9 had finally passed in Harrisburg and would be signed by Gov. Corbett.

The bill limits the number of passengers that a teen driver may have in his or her car. Mandates seat-belt use. Increases the number of practice hours that a driver must have before a license is granted. And orders that at least 10 of those hours be driven at night and in adverse weather conditions.

It will be known as Lacey's Law (a suggestion I made in this column in 2007).

"I could not stop crying when Kathy called me," said Denise, who, with husband Frank, has pushed for tougher teen-driving laws since they lost Lacey. They worked with Watson, whose advocacy has been so relentless, she should be nicknamed Road Warrior.

"If we had known then what we know now about teen driving, we never would have let Lacey in that car. There is no doubt in my mind," Denise said emphatically. Lacey had been packed with six others in an SUV driven that rainy night by a 17-year-old who hit a median and flipped the vehicle. None of the passengers was wearing a seat belt. All were injured.

The Gallagher family - which includes daughters Brianna and Lexi, son Sean and his toddler, named for Lacey - were still catching their breath yesterday after Saturday's annual "Lacey Day" in Fishtown. It's a huge fundraiser at Holy Name of Jesus parish that supports the Lacey Fund, a nonprofit that provides tuition help for Catholic-school students and to lobby for passage of tougher teen-driving laws.

This year, the passage of Lacey's Law added a triumphant vibe to the party. Nearly 400 attendees snatched up the safe-driving brochures supplied by State Farm, a corporate champion of restrictions on teen driving.

I've written often about the need for better teen-driving laws. But if you're not up to speed, allow me to sum up the research. Spearheaded by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, it should've made passage of Lacey's Law a no-brainer when Watson introduced a first version more than four years ago.

Basically, teen-driver crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths. Most of these crashes are caused not by drugs, booze or deliberately risky behavior but by distractions and/or inexperience.

One of the biggest distractions is the presence of other teens in the car. One study found that carrying one teenage passenger almost doubled the fatal-crash risk of teen drivers, compared with their driving alone. The risk was five times higher when two or more teens were in the car.

As for experience, studies show that 16-year-old drivers have crash rates three times higher than 17-year-old drivers and five times higher than 18-year-old drivers. The rate plummets with age (since the part of the brain affecting risk-taking behavior and judgment isn't fully developed until we're in our 20s).

And lest anyone think that teen drivers have the potential to bring heartache to only their own families, yet another study shows that nearly one-third of those killed in crashes involving teen drivers are not even in the teen's car. They are pedestrians, cyclists and in other vehicles.

So, the new driving restrictions will save teen drivers from themselves - and us from them.

If, that is, parents are on board.

"Parents are the primary driving teacher for their kids," says Watson. "If they know and use the science behind the law, that's how we'll reach the kids."

Decades ago, the safest place for a child in a car was thought to be on her mother's lap, in the front seat. Over time, research - and horrible death-crash statistics - taught us otherwise. Today, parents of newborns aren't allowed to drive away from the hospital until they show a nurse that their infant is secured in a proper child-safety seat, in the back seat, facing backward.

And no one bats an eye.

My hope is that Lacey's Law will save lives the way that baby car seats have.

As gratifying as it must be to have a law named in memory of your child, it would be so much better if that child were still here, making memories on her own.