DR. WALLACE: I need your help and fast! I'm 17, and my so-called boyfriend is 18. He and I do practically everything together — go to parties, cruise around and attend rock concerts. He doesn't have a car, so I always drive when we go out.

My problem is that he is always trying to scare me or scare people walking along the road. Sometimes when I'm driving he even opens the car door when I'm going 40 mph and grabs the wheel and whips it around. He scares me to death and also the people on the side of the road.

His mom even told me that he is always fighting with her and her live-in boyfriend. She says he's an uncontrollable teenager and she threatens to send him away to a detention home.

My question is how can I keep this guy under control when I'm driving? We have had several near misses already, but he always says that it's no big deal. I know it is, and it worries me that we won't always be so lucky. He's my first boyfriend, and if I can't get use of a car, he doesn't even want to see me. What can I do? — Nameless, Dallas, Tex.

NAMELESS: This guy is one of the poorest excuses for a boyfriend I've ever heard. What you can do is get rid of him! Believe me, you can do much better. Don't sell yourself so short and do not — I repeat, DO NOT — allow him to ride in your car again. He's a manslaughter charge waiting to happen, and you're the one who would have to stand trial.

Wish him good luck when you dump him, but make sure that he knows that you will not be dating him again!

IT'S TIME TO TELL GRANDMA SHE IS NO LONGER WELCOME

DR. WALLACE: I'm 15 and desperately need your advice. My parents are divorced and I live with my mother who has legal custody of me. She is a wonderful mother and the two of us are the best of friends. I love my mother and I consider her the best mother in the whole world. She is a strict mother, but she is also fair and wants only what's best for me.

My dad's mother (my grandmother) lives in a nearby town and comes to visit us once in a while. The problem is that after she visits she calls my dad in California and tells him a bunch of lies. He then calls my mom and accuses her of being a bad mother and claims I've turned into a tramp. This makes her angry and she hangs up on him. Then mom and I sit down and cry because none of the lies are true, and we don't know what to do about this. What advice can you give us? — Teen, Oklahoma, Okla.

TEEN: The vast majority of grandmothers are loving, caring and helpful members of the family. Only a very few could be considered to be nasty, troublesome, deceitful ladies who have nothing better to do than to cause as much family chaos as possible.

I would encourage mom to inform grandmother that she is no longer a welcome guest in your home.

YOUR PRIORITY IS TO BECOME AN EX-SMOKER

DR. WALLACE: I'm 19 and have been smoking for over five years, and I would really like to quit. I hear that when you quit you gain weight. True or false? — Nameless, Hammond, La.

NAMELESS: It's common to gain a bit of weight when one stops smoking. That's because ex-smokers tend to feel anxious and turn to yet another oral activity — eating. Some ex-smokers are able to limit their snacking to their favorite healthy, low-calorie snacks, but it is often difficult.

The solution for you is to whip the smoking problem first, then work on losing those extra pounds. Right now, your health priority is to become an ex-smoker!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.