A Centreville youth was dwarfed at the podium by the story he shared with the new drivers in attendance for the final step to becoming licensed.
"I learned the hardest lesson of my life. There are five simple words: There is no going back. I killed my best friend," he said, referring to an accident the teen-ager had on Nov. 14, 2001, on the Fairfax County Parkway.
"We got hit on the passenger side and went airborne. Life is not like a video game. There's no restart button in real life. I'm going to jail right after graduation for what I did," he said.
The auditorium was silent.
Judge Charles J. Maxfield took the podium and shook his head.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I can't add to that," he said. "Driving is a privilege and not a right."
Maxfield then told a story about his own driving instruction around the block in 1968 and considers any training they might have as inadequate. Then he appealed to the parents.
"Parents, you've got to keep on top of these kids," he said, recalling the look on the face of the mother who lost her son in the car accident. He tried the case in court just recently.
"There was nothing anybody could say to relieve the pain," he said.
Robinson junior Spencer Leon was there with his mother, Pamela, who is a staff member at Robinson Secondary School. Last week, two students from Robinson were in a high-speed accident where alcohol was a factor, according to police. Spencer was skeptical on the way into the auditorium but listened to the youth's story.
"I think it was probably the best thing they could do," he said of the talk.
Leon recalled the mood at the school on Monday, April 22, after the accident.
"It was a very sad day," she said.
POLICE OFFICER Wayne Twombly, school resource officer at Madison High School, noted the Robinson accident, too.
"That's tragic. I hope they recover. That's reality. It happens every day," he said.
All the students got their temporary licenses in the spring but were at Fairfax High School to get the real thing. Their pictures were taken when the temporary was issued.
Amanda Broadway, 16, a sophomore at Edison High School. She was affected by the speech but still couldn't hide her smile after she got her license.
Herndon High School student Heather Rider, 16, has some friends who have had their licenses taken away by their parents already. After waiting in line, the officer handed the license to Heather's mother, Maradee. She liked that symbolic gesture.
"I have to give it to her, and it's my discretion," Rider said.
Janet Simmons was with her son, Kyle Rodgers.
"I think that was very effective, very sobering. I think they need that. I love that they said driving is a privilege," she said.
According to a court spokesperson who chose not to give her name, the ceremonies are always at Fairfax High School and are conducted by a judge, but they don't always have a speaker. At the Wednesday night ceremony, the auditorium was 75-percent full of new drivers