[Rich-L79]

http://www.journalstar.com/news/article_ac232560-8f95-11de-862c-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story

This young lady is the daughter of a friend of my wife. As the article outlines, she was a pretty great young lady. What the article does not say is that the car that hit her was seriously speeding, racing another car driven by friends of his. This was so stupid and needless that I'm at a loss for words. The eulogy delivered by her twin sister yesterday was utterly heartwrenching.

 

[JNorton]

It's frustrating how some people just have no regard for the safety of others, or what a great responsibility it is to be in control of a 3000 pound vehicle. It's just shows how the driver that caused the accident just did not consider the consiquences of these actions.

I see it every day, even with 'normal' driving with young drivers texting and fiddling with the radio while driving. It alarms me the number of people who drive with the phone to thier ear. I'm not saying I never do it, but it is rare.

I live close to work and during the summer I pedal the bike. When school is back in session (today) I'm back in the car so I don't end up as a spot on the road. I have too many close calls during the summer.

 

[PaPa Johns 77]

As popular as she was the kid will have a hard row to hoe and deservedly so!
Way back when I was in school we had an idiot try and set a sppeed record in a crap box 4 door 55 Chevy. He crashed and killed a good riend of mine who was probably the most liked kid in the whole school!
When the guy came back to school he got the help beat out of him and it happened at least a dozen times that year.
He got a beating over it at his 20th Class reunion too!

 

[1BLACKHARLEY]

look, there isn't one of us that wasn't a dumb ass kid at some point in our lives. luckily most of us didn't kill anybody. i'm not down playing this, it is tragic, and my heart goes out to the family, actually both families, because they both have some really heavy stuff to deal with, for a long time to come.

again, this comes down to parenting, i'm not saying anybody has been a bad parent, but in these parts, they are trying to raise the driving age, and most of the parents are "outraged".

lets be honest, kids use thier technology while driving, cars are way more powerful than they used to be, because parents would rather be buddies than parents, thier kids are driving high powered trucks, suv's and even muscle cars.

drive the most under powered new car, and it's still twice as fast as a 60's vw, corvair, and assorted sedans of our day. this coupled with the entitlement we now instill in our kids, and you have a bunch of high powered inexpierenced drivers.

look, these things happened when we were kids, the penalties are a lot more severe in these times.

so what is the answer to this? longer jail times? later age for starters? there is really no cure for being young and dumb. we were all there, we all lost friends, we've all been there and done that. all we can do is pray it doesn't happen to our loved ones, and keep those who have dealt with this in our prayers...

 

[PaPa Johns 77]

Except my daughter who totaled a 73 Laguna S3 I got for her first car my 3 boys all started with low powered vehicles. My oldest son started with my old Ford Courier Pickup and drove it until he bought a 66 Plymouth Fury III and oer twins started by sharing a 1987 Ford Escort until they bought their own cars. The first bought an 90 something Nissan Sentra and the other bought a Toyota Celica after totaling the Escort!
Yes we all did stupid things but we also seem to have our heads together a little better than kids do today. We wern't rcing through town in traffic in the middle of the day. We usually saved it for late night out on the edge of town where there was no traffic and tried to keep it organized.

 

[Rich-L79]

I don't have any answer either and the kid who lived will have a lifetime of crap to deal with internally and externally. A small part of me feels just a little sorry for him for what he'll have to deal with yet for just a few moments of really poor judgement. But then he didn't lose a sister/daughter/friend either, lots of other people did though yet they had absolutely no control over the situation and he did. I'm sad and I'm outraged and the only useful purpose to put this energy into is to persuade others to avoid such senselessly tragic situations by not creating the opportunity for them to occur.

No one can deny that street racing is stupid and is responsible for this and many other senseless tragedies. I do wish we at least had a local drag strip these kids could go to to at least give them a proper time and place to "get it out of their systems".

 

[Scotch]

Very well stated Rich...

 

[johncolvin]

I do wish we at least had a local drag strip these kids could go to to at least give them a proper time and place to "get it out of their systems".

:thumbsup: I would go as well.

 

[Cr85rRida]

Very sad to hear about. The wreck looks horrible... if you look close on the passenger door panel you see blood :-( I wonder whats going to happen to the kid

 

[blubu]

Actually here in Tulsa they started the saturday midnites.
For all the people who had cars that were fast enough.
Slow ones too most would never pass inspection,
For five dollars they would open the gates and let everyone have a shot

All you need do was pay your money
Sign on the dotted line to relieve the strip of any resposibility.
It was great for a while But like all things
The strip changed hands several times. It went back to the street
No matter the penalty I suspect street racing will be around. Its a choice.
If most strips would remember that is why drag strips were founded in the first place. Im not excusing it. Innocent lives are always in danger on the street. Strip too IMO At least we have available race track.
Not like the days of old. But yet it works

 

[CFR]

Very sad indeed, the kid should never be allowed to drive as long as he lives! I really don't think a drag strip is the answer, I have one 1/2 mile away and have lost 2 friends in the last 5 years to kids driving stupid. They got to race to the strip and back. When they have bike racing we stay off the roads.The state patrol sits in my drive every year waiting, and keeps very busy.
Our thoughts are with her family :sad:

 

[Dean]

Very very sad as it always is. :sad:

We had a drag strip and we still drag raced in the streets.
We did a lot of other really dumb stuff when we were younger too.

 

[JNorton]

so what is the answer to this? longer jail times? later age for starters?

How about making the parents liable until the teen driver is 18 and out of high school? A similar incident happened by us last year in a more rural area. A kid with a suped-up Neon went ripping up a country road, lost it, and took aout a couple telephone poles and his passenger buddy after school got out. They said he was going over 90 MPH on a two-lane road. He was quite proud of his high-speed ventures, so much so that he posted his speeding tickets on Facebook. I hate to sound like one of those parents, but her it goes. If it were my kid, that Neon would be FOR SALE and he would use the money toward a Prius or something else that won't go over 60. I'm not holier than thou, but I did my hot rodding on the the interstate in the high speed lane when I was a kid, not on the city streets.

Every time I see a story like this, I think of my kids. When I saw that girl's picture in the news story, I just see my daughter. She's 6 now, but I can't help but think 10 years ahead. You teach her well, you put her in a safe car, you train her to wear her seatbelt, then some fool erases her in a blink of an eye. Not a thing you can do about it. I pray to God every day that I never get the call that that girl's parents got that day. To any idiot that drive around like that, you better pray that you parish from your own foolishness lest you take out someone I love.

 

[classicfan1]

I support the cities that crush these ricers if caught racing on the streets. People my age and well into their 20s (and older) text, talk on cell phones, drink, shave, put on make up, do home work, and everything else but drive responsibly. I like that new anti-text commercial from Britain and I hope it has an effect. It's fools like these that make people want to keep their REAL Hot Rods and Muscle Cars garaged or on trailers. They endanger the lives of many all the time. Their loud bass rap music keeps me awake sometimes at my mom's house.

I hate ricers and today at MVCTC we had a small car show. We had a few good cars, but most of the good ones belonged to the parents or the teachers, lmao. One guy had his chicken fryer truck blaring rap and I was looking at a truck next to it and I could hear he was trying to play country for a change, but the bass still ruined it. He went back to rap. I got a kick out of some kid thinking his Saturn was a hot car.

 

[The Deejay]

If i'm the judge, he gets the maximum, but i take it one step further...when he gets out, he must go to one school per week, elementary, middle, high ....present pictures of the crash, tell the students what he did and warn them against similar behavior....if it's a good size city, maybe it takes him a year, maybe two, if he misses, back to jail.........Call it tough love or whatever, we were held accountable when we were kids, why has this changed? Mandatory jail time for vehicular deaths...no exceptions, no great lawyers, no fines, just hard time, so they can think about their actions.....i may sound bitter, i lost a great brother-in-law to a speeding drunk driver....let me tell you one thing...try standing in a emergency room, looking down at your sister, and trying to tell her that her husband didn't make it. Guys, that may be the toughest thing you're ever ask to do. Ask me how i know:sad:

 

[Chris R]

There was a street racing death this past weekend here locally when a racer tried running from the cops after they broke up a crowd of racers and spectators. Innocent person got t boned when the racer ran a red light trying to flee. The story made the front page locally. Heres the article

http://www.startribune.com/local/ea...UoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciatkEP7DhUsl

 

[1965 Blue Malibu]

Teen dies, 2 others injured in wreck



Sabian Warren • August 18, 2009 03:50 PM

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MILLS RIVER — Two teenagers injured in a traffic accident Sunday night remain hospitalized today.

Injured were Jarrett Carland, 17, of Pennsylvania Road in Mills River, and Jeremiah Jarvis, 17, of Piney Ridge Road in Hendersonville.

Carland, the driver of a Ford Explorer that crashed into a tree, was listed in critical condition today at Mission Hospital, a hospital spokesman said. Jarvis was in fair condition.

Jordan Hodges, a 14-year-old rising ninth-grader who played on the West Henderson junior varsity volleyball team, died in the wreck. She had been a volleyball player and catcher on the softball team at Rugby Middle School.
“She was very talented in athletics,” Rugby Middle athletic director Mark Page said. “She was a leader on our teams and was always positive and focused. She was a delightful young lady to be around. This is just a true tragedy.”
The wreck happened about 9:30 p.m. on Butler Bridge Road near Mills River, south of Asheville Regional Airport, Highway Patrol Sgt. Max Watkins said.
The teens were riding in a 1997 Ford Explorer, traveling east on Butler Bridge Road “at a high rate of speed,” Watkins said.
Heading into a curve, the vehicle left the right side of the road.
“The driver overcorrected and ran off the left side of the road and struck a tree,” Watkins said.
Hodges was riding in the passenger seat, he said.
Troopers estimated the vehicle was traveling about 60 mph at the time of the accident, Watkins said. The speed limit on that stretch is 35.
Hodges was scheduled to attend freshman orientation Monday morning at West Henderson High, Page said. School officials had counselors on hand to help students cope with her death.
“A lot of her closest friends and athletes were in tears,” Page said. “There was quite a lot of emotion. It's just not fair that she's not here.”
Rugby Middle plans a meeting with students who were close to her at 1:30 p.m. today, he said.
West Henderson High School postponed tonight's volleyball match against Enka. It has been rescheduled for Sept. 23.

Rich
So sad, just a note to let you know this happens every where in the usa. Got to run for now.
Bill

 

[Greg]

...the kid who lived will have a lifetime of crap to deal with...A small part of me feels just a little sorry for him for what he'll have to deal with...

I don't feel any pity at all for reckless drivers or street racers...not one ounce.
I feel extremely sorry for the innocent victims who are involved in wrecks because of them.

A moron around here was speeding a couple of years back, and killed a 6 year old girl pedestrian.

Whenever I read in the paper about one of these guys getting killed while street racing or driving recklessly, I figure it's one less moron who might hit my kids, my wife, or me.

The driver of the Chevelle below was driving like a moron when he hit another innocent driver a couple of years ago.
The passenger in the Chevelle was killed, the driver of the Chevelle was critically injured...but fortunately, the innocent driver of the car he hit did not receive life threatening injuries.

Regards,
-Greg

 

[OutCast]

There was a major-thread on here on that very Chevelle wreck. I believe it happened in North Western Oregon. And the driver was no kid...in his 60's if I recall correctly.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186950&highlight=chevelle+crash

 

[Dean]

The driver died also.