SoCal OC Fatal Accident - 996 Cab & a 18 year old Don't Mix

[artplumber]

So she wasn't even drunk? I read it on the internet....

As I wrote, it's easy to criticize, but I bet this board might be a whole lot more empty if every one of us who ever made a potentially catastrophic decision got our "just rewards".

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by artplumber
So she wasn't even drunk? I read it on the internet....

As I wrote, it's easy to criticize, but I bet this board might be a whole lot more empty if every one of us who ever made a potentially catastrophic decision got our "just rewards".

Everything on the internets is true, didn't you get the memo?

Here is a link to the actual Newpaper article, but then again, Newspapers are not much better then the iinternets.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/homepage/article_1538883.php

[unimog406]

I reserve sympathy for those that have suffered with little or no contribution to their own troubles. But empathy certainly costs us nothing and reminds us of our own foibles, errors in judgement and pecadillos. We all have them; everyone of us. So when you can only see the faults of others or think only THEIRS are worthy of Darwin jokes or cruel judgements...better take a look in the mirror.

absolutly right.
I am happy every day for the way my parents raised me, to respect cars and guns.
it is clear that this girl sffered a severe lapse in judgment, but it is just as clear her dad didn't bring her up to properly respect the responsability and risk involved in driving a car. I consider myself a risk taker, i like the rush. I only ever take risks with my own life. I downhill mountain bike, and I mountain bike jump and I do dirt bike jumping, but with everthing I do, i only put myself at risk. even in my most severe lapses of judgment I often go over the edge and put myself at risk, but I have never put others at risk the way this girl did. thus i cannot sympathize with her, but i CAN empathize with her and especially her family.

[berettafan]

Originally posted by unimog406
, but it is just as clear her dad didn't bring her up to properly respect the responsability and risk involved in driving a car.

You will retract that statement when the reality of raising children is upon you.

The older i get the more i believe good parenting is NO guarantee of a child never making bad decisions.

[unimog406]

perhaps you are right. i will try to teach my kids the way my dad taught me. repetitavely and from a young age. I was driving on his lap at age 4, and driving solo at age 7 [a jeep in our back woods. i had to have a coushin to reach the pedals] it is not easy, but until I feel that my kids respect the risk involved, they will not get their liscense.

true teens believe they are invincible. but not all of them. Kids are the product of their influences. parents can choose their influences. my parents chose to role model for me instead of having the tv role model for me. Every single time i get into a car, i know the risk i am taking with everyone on the street around me. I never ever EVER trust the other guy. parents can keep this from stuff from happening. we are all car enthusiasts, and it is our collective responsability to treat the next generation to a dose of reality. this can happen. this can happen to you. this can happen to your children. they need to learn to treat cars with respect as a lethal weapon. my sympathies to her family

[Sonic dB]

Well... something's not right about that most recent story.

They make it seem like the 18 year old girl all of a sudden
out of the blue, decided to take the 997 for a joy ride
at speeds of over 100MPH?

And what were the speeds anyway?

Something drove that girl to drive the car that fast...
and that recklessly...

Im not blaming the parents, like the other poster here is doing...

what Im saying is that no one really knows why she did it.

F the CHP though... and also those who prostituted this girl
and her family with their cruelty online and in person.

This...is why in my own life, when I meet someone or get to
know someone who makes sick jokes or references that are
of bad taste or character, I am immediately put on defensive
and completely lose respect for such a person...because their
true colours are showing... and 44% of the people in this world
can be classifed as "bad people" imo.

[artplumber]

Originally posted by Sonic dB
...and 44% of the people in this world
can be classifed as "bad people" imo.

OK, I have to know.... Why 44%?

[speeder]

He took a poll.

[Sonic dB]

Why 44%?

Cause its not quite half, which gives the majority
a benefit of a doubt.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by Sonic dB
...and completely lose respect for such a person....

Sonic, I "get" what you're saying here but perhaps this part is a bit overstated. When someone makes an insensitive or cruel comment I am put off too. All the Anna Nicole, "trailer trash" and "did it to herself" type comments are understandable...in a way. But I think they say a lot more about the people saying them than they do about the person targeted for such comments.

I don't "completely" lose respect. But I get where you're coming from. I'd crawl in a hole if I had to hear a tape of everything shallow, superficial, cruel and judgemental I may have said over the years. Eek, I cringe thinking of just the ones I can remember. We all make mistakes, make errors in judgement and forget to engage the filter (that's supposed to be) between our brain and our mouth.

I hope others will treat me with a bit more humanity after my own demise someday.

[TerryH]

Followup link. How the photos became public and parents are sueing CHP for 20 million.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1578192.php

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, I saw a similar article in the L.A. Times this morning.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally posted by Sonic dB
They make it seem like the 18 year old girl all of a sudden
out of the blue, decided to take the 997 for a joy ride
at speeds of over 100MPH?

Something drove that girl to drive the car that fast...

100mph is the new 55mph. I was recently on the I-5 carpool lanes through Tustin Ranch area and was holding up traffic while doing a tick under 100 mph.

I feel that my Dad raised me "right" yet I feel incredibly lucky to have survived my teens + 20's. Many times I drove reckless, fast, and a couple times intoxicated. Standing back to criticise the Dad, with the info we have, is pure comedy. Kids are kids and will act irrational at times. Like or not they will make mistakes and there is nothing the adult can do to change that.

[artplumber]

People are driving crazy fast almost everywhere. Now you get run over doing 80mph. I just hide out in the slow lane. Prob is no one wants to let you out to pass someone.

[bivenator]

It would be nice if the parents do something constructive with the settlement. 20 mil is a lot of coin and it would seem that the family is not living hand to mouth.

[Moses]

We all make mistakes. We have all been careless. We have all used poor judgement. A young woman is dead. He family is shattered. Why are we pointing fingers? Someones little girl is dead. As a father of a son and two daughters this is heartbreaking. I don't really care if she was speeding or drinking. She was only 18. And now someones little girl is dead.

[Dottore]

Originally posted by berettafan


In this sue happy world there is one lawsuit i hope wins BIG.

But why? I mean leaking the photos is appalling - and the responsible employee should be sacked without question.

But a $20million lawsuit? Does the family deserve this windfall? For what? Should the CHP - and by extension the taxpayer have to foot this kind of a bill? Should these lawyers get rich? Should valuable court time be wasted? All because some idiot CHP employee decided to leak the photos?

The girl is dead and that is a tragedy. I find these attempts by the family and lawyers to profit from this tragedy both distateful and macabre, and in my view it is a serious flaw in the US justice system that this kind of a case can even be brought.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by artplumber
Yeah it was a sad story. And for all of the people wanting to award Darwins, how many times when you were a kid did you do something stupid that could have killed you, and maybe a bunch of other people too? No doubt she shouldn't have been drunk (at 18 or any other age) and mad when she stole the car, but geez, have some pity for the fam...

Saying she was completely wrong, stupid or anything else does not say that there is no pity. I lived in that part of CA for 13 years and I know how those kids behave. It's worse now. Last time I was down there early in the morning I was on a curvy 4 lane, blind in many places like intersections, etc., and near a school. The speed limits are 45 on most of these streets, which is a stretch to me. But, at 45, I was the slowest vehicle around. These kids were doing 60 and better all over the place on the way to school.

Now, something is wrong here and I blame the parents and the kids themselves for the ignorant outlook on the responsibly and privilege of driving. Unfortunately, something like this fatality has to happen now and then to bring things back in perspective. Sure, I'm sorry that this and any other senseless death occurs, but I don't feel any particular need to side step the main issue, which is simply plain stupidity. And totally irresponsible in that she stole the car, was apparently driving impaired and certainly in an extremely reckless nature. Three major laws broken in one incident, not to mention the wreck itself.

Now you ask how many times any of us has done something stupid that could have fatal consequences for the individual and/or others. All I can offer you is the fact that I've never been even slightly scratched in a car, nor has anyone else due to my driving for 45 years. That would include about 5 years on a motorcycle on a daily basis as well.

Let's not just call that luck. Let's call that responsible. And call me callous if you will, but I'm tired of young motorists that endanger the rest of us as we use the roads for our purposes. I have been passed on the right while doing the speed limit by these jerks using a bike lane way too many times to be calm and sympathetic about this particular occurrence. So many people don't even know what's in the driver's handbook. They don't know you can't drive in a bike lane, or cross a double-double yellow line. Hell, a lot of people I encounter at a 4-way stop don't even know the right of way rules.

Frankly, I was not attempting any type of humor with the Darwin remark. To me, there is nothing funny about any of this. I was being duly critical.

I have to agree 100% with Dottore, too.

[artplumber]

Originally posted by milt
.....Three major laws broken in one incident, not to mention the wreck itself.

Now you ask how many times any of us has done something stupid that could have fatal consequences for the individual and/or others. All I can offer you is the fact that I've never been even slightly scratched in a car, nor has anyone else due to my driving for 45 years. That would include about 5 years on a motorcycle on a daily basis as well.
...

Well, as you can read from the above links there is even some lack of clarity about whether she was drunk.

As to your lack of accidents, I note that it avoids the answer to the question by stating that you have never been scratched. Assuming this means that you have never made a mistake that could have endangered you, a passenger, or someone else, woohoo mr perfect. Somehow however, I doubt that you have never made a "stupid" mistake whether it applies to driving, or life in general.

Certainly one might term this incident an error of judgement or even stupid, but the use of Darwin, and the tone of your response (as I remember it) was derisive.

EDIT: Dottore, personally I don't think the family wants to profit from this accident. Unfortunately, one of the things about america is that people don't take you seriously unless you hurt them in the pocketbook, most especially some govt agencies. The CHP should have been all over the fact those pictures were everywhere on the internet before the family started getting pictures of the accident messaged to them. Because it was the right thing to do. That person should not only lose their job, but pay a hefty fine. Think about it, not only did you lose your family member, but you get to see pics of her brains on the concrete and her basically decapitated. It's bad enough if you are a bystander, but what if it was your sister/daughter!

[Zeke]

Not mr. perfect by a long shot, but alert. Once upon a time, every driver slowed at every intersection even with a green light at signaled intersections. Now, it seems that the method is to continue at the speed limit and if the light changes to yellow, make a snap decision as to whether to stop or run through on the yellow or possibly the red (evermore the case these days). This type of driving leaves little room for avoiding a wreck if someone else blows the light.

I have little respect for the average drivers of today. I think my parents taught me well, and I think the racing I have done since age 14 has helped in many ways.

Now, not to be a smart ass, because I'm taking this all seriously, but I'm a little confused as to what question I'm avoiding. I'm critical of the girl, whether she had anything to drink or not. Going 100 MPH is an irresponsible and deliberate act. Have I done this? Yes, but with a lot more experience (remember, I was going into corners at 60 MPH inches from other racing karts at 14) and never in traffic. Never. In 45 years, never.