Fourteen people were killed in crashes investigated by the state police during the three-day Easter holiday driving period, according to a state police news release.

Eleven of those killed were not wearing seat belts, and four of the fatal crashes were alcohol-related.

Amid this year's Easter weekend highway tragedies that merits particular notice is a Cambria County crash that killed two teens and resulted in injuries to two other teens who had been riding in the same car. The one-car crash took place Saturday afternoon while the speeding car was being driven by a 16-year-old who had her driver's license for just two weeks. She and a 16-year-old male passenger lost their lives in the crash.

The state police said the teen lost control of the car, which struck an embankment, flipped and then struck a tree.

Some parents embrace the foolish attitude that if their child has attained the driving proficiency necessary to pass the state's driving-skills test, he or she is ready to drive without supervision in all kinds of driving circumstances or weather.

The better attitude embraced by many other parents is that their son or daughter, even though having passed the driver's test and having received a junior driver's license, must drive under the supervision of an adult driver for a specified period of time, perhaps six months or a year, in order to sharpen driving skills.

In the past weekend's double fatality in Cambria County, a receipe for tragedy, in addition to the new driver being allowed to operate a vehicle without adult supervision, was having a carload of teen passengers.

Limited experience coupled with the possible distraction of being in the company of young friends is too often a prescription for a crash.

Some states already have rules limiting the number of teens who are permitted to be in a vehicle driven by a teen with a junior license without adult supervision. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania isn't one of them.

Pennsylvania law states that a "junior driver" may not carry more passengers than seat belts available in the vehicle and, by that standard, the driver in Saturday's crash was not in violation of the law.

But it's safe to surmise that Saturday's crash would not have occurred if adult supervision were in place and if there hadn't been a carload of teens joyriding.

Testimony of Deborah Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, on Jan. 23, 2006, before the Committee on Transportation of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, dealing with junior driver's licenses, merits reflection by all parents and guardians with new drivers.

"The presence of teen passengers can adversely influence the risk-taking behavior of teen drivers, leading to crashes with increased injuries and deaths for both the drivers and their passengers," Hersman said. "The relative risk of death among 16- and 17-year-old drivers who have at least one passenger in the car is significantly greater than the relative risk when driving alone.

"The risk increases with each additional passenger. Carrying at least three teen passengers results in a threefold increase in the probability of a teen in that vehicle being killed."

Hersman recommended that the Pennsylvania General Assembly add a passenger restriction for those with learner's permits and junior licenses. Unfortunately, the General Assembly hasn't followed up on that recommendation.

It's time that such action occurs.