How's my driving? Mom wants to know

APEX -- Blake Holland drives on N.C. 55 toward Fuquay-Varina High School. It's pouring rain, and the road is slick.

Blake turns on the lights and wipers, looks both ways when he turns and drives slower than the speed limit. After a string of accidents involving youngdrivers, Blake's caution is reassuring.

But maybe that's because the 15-year-old has only a learner's permit. And his mom is riding shotgun.

Sherrie Holland doesn't look worried. Her palms aren't sweaty, and she offers gentle guidance: "You don't have a stop sign, babe."

Blake expects to get his license next month without a problem.

But when his mom is no longer by Blake's side, she may still get updates on his progress behind the wheel. That's because she affixed a black-and-white decal in the rear window - like the ones you see on the backs of trucks - that urges drivers to "Report My Driving."

Holland and Raleigh mother Nancy Anderson started the Teen Road Angel program in December.

For $40 a year, parents can enroll in Teen Road Angel, which allows motorists to report the decaled vehicle's unsafe driving maneuvers to a toll-free number.

Each decal has a code. When someone calls about a teen's driving, parents get a voice mail message.

But Blake said he doesn't mind the decal. "I think it's pretty cool how you could save someone's life," he said.

A teen is involved in a crash every 23 minutes in North Carolina, the state Highway Patrol says. Every year, more than 200 people die in accidents involving teen drivers, and in 68 percent of the accidents, the teen drivers are at fault.

Since 2005, more than 35 Johnston County teenagers have been killed in accidents, including a wreck Saturday outside Garner involving a West Johnston High School student.

Holland and Anderson, longtime friends, got the idea for the program after their own run-in with a car full of teenagers.

While traveling south for a trip, a car with four or five teenagers ran them off the road.

"It was like, gosh, I wish we could report that," Holland said.

The mothers brainstormed on their trip and came up with Teen Road Angel. They designed the decal - think of the black Harley Davidson logo - and recruited their friends to join.

The program has about 50 families registered. It has received two calls with complaints about teen drivers.

They presented their idea to the Wake County Mayors' Association in January. The mayors loved the idea and passed a resolution to support it.

"I want my daughter to have it," Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said.

Just watch the scene at a high school parking lot after the final bell.

"I've seen a couple of accidents in the school parking lot, with kids backing out," Blake Holland said. "I've also seen people get rear-ended."

One of every four American 16- and 17-year-olds have texted while driving, and more than 40 percent have talked on the phone while driving, according to a November report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Cell-phone use is illegal for drivers under 18 in North Carolina. Texting is illegal for drivers of all ages.

The founders of Teen Road Angel understand that some risky behavior comes with getting a license. Anderson said she was a "speed demon" when she was in high school. Holland admits - with some embarrassment - that she used to drag race.

Now they display the decal on their own cars. "It makes you think twice about how you drive," Holland said.