Published: February 1, 2000

Death In The Afternoon

One day in October, Mikhail Barg, a senior at Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Maryland, decided to grab a quick lunch off campus with two friends. That decision cost him his life. The 17-year-old, speeding to squeeze the trip into the school's 44-minute lunch period, slammed his car into a utility pole. Four days later, he died of his injuries.

The incident was one of a number of recent high-profile lunchtime accidents that have spurred school officials to rethink open-campus policies. In September, three Miami-area teenagers died in a high-speed, noon-hour car crash. In Phoenix, meanwhile, there has been an unnerving string of tragedies: At least six area students, including one in November, have died, and 18 others have been injured, in lunchtime crashes in...