13 + 2 + 75 = 9

[LouNY]

What is actually amazing is how few fatalities there actually are in this entire country,
with the huge amount of accidents.

With a speed limit of 75 mph thats a closing rate of 150 mph if no is speeding.

 

[jyoutz]

We obviously do not have all the facts here. A two-lane road with 75mph speed limit. Hell - I-90 running W to E thru our state only has a max speed of 70 mph. Sounds like somebody might be exaggerating a little. Besides - what bearing does the speed limit have on this accident. How fast were the vehicles going.

These highways in the west Texas oil fields do have 75 mph speed limits. They are straight and not a hill or curves for miles. But I avoid them when I can because of all the truck and equipment traffic.

 

[Diggin It]

This article only says 'adult male', not father or other relationship. Other articles may specify.

We don't know if the driver and passenger lived in the immediate area or anything about other family members who may shed light on why they were there.

We don't know the actual speed of either vehicle, only the posted speed limit, which I maintain is too high for any two lane road, anywhere.

 

[Doofy]

For the past year we were subscribed to the Seminole Sentinel my hometown newspaper. We were actually flabbergasted by the high number of serious traffic accidents pictured in the newspaper.

The population has never really exploded so it must just be the huge increase in oil field and farming equipment on those roads causing the increase in accidents.

 

[MossRoad]

https://www.facebook.com/302029093233364/photos/a.302031853233088/4199546930148208

 

[Ken]

I agree with Ld. Facts are left out. The narrative of ANY news outlet is to scare you and these news outlets do a damn fine job of it.
My two cents.. The state ain’t accountable. That’s like blaming gun makers for a shooting. Regardless of the facts the ultimate one responsible is the driver. He was on spare. Spares do dry rot pretty quick. Idk if that one had started to or not. Yea he was young. And for all we know, again lack of facts, everything could’ve been in tip top shape. It may just be a freak accident that could’ve happened to anyone.

The age of the driver and vehicle speed as well who the rider was is not an intended accident. No one intended to have an accident. if the driver was any age still would the condition be acceptable. ?
Living in N.Mex when my children were aged 10 and 12 and only ones that did not know how to drive a vehicle. and I allowed them to practice driving the ranch kids living 5 to 15 miles on their father's ranch would drive to high way and then get on the bus usually senior-school-aged drivers driving the bus.
Many children drove their own pick-ups with horse trailers or cattle trailers to school for rodeo practice after school.
I learned to drive before 1st.grade .Model "A" car then Dad bought a '29 Oldsmobile removed the rear seats to carry cream cans to the creamery daily. many times I drove. age experience and attention to what you are doing but when a tire blows (of course supposed to know it will happen) or picking up an iron item that cuts the tire. and animal crossing the road (Deer Antilope or even hitting a cow so swerve to miss.
Not much help after the accident to place blame. Also, more than likely there are more Lawyers than inhabitants in the closest town. all looking for the wealthiest person to sue.
Let's get some information accurate before blaming the driver.
terrible Yes was the school the blame for requiring the daily trip instead of a Motel for the tournament?
driver the blame for a faulty tire on pickup.
Only time will tell

 

[Hay Dude]

We dont even know what kind of spare it was. Was it one of those little crappy ones that you are not supposed to go over 50mph on and not more than 50 miles or was it a full size real tire spare? By the fact it has been referred to as a spare would lead one to think it was the little crappy one.

Huh, I have been so busy I didnt know a spare tire was involved.
Also never knew pickups got those little low speed spare tires. Youd think if it was a truck, youd get a full size spare because it could be a loaded truck when it gets a flat.

 

[hube2]

We dont even know what kind of spare it was. Was it one of those little crappy ones that you are not supposed to go over 50mph on and not more than 50 miles or was it a full size real tire spare? By the fact it has been referred to as a spare would lead one to think it was the little crappy one.

To me, the only reason to mention that it was a spare that it was obviously a spare, which means it was one of those crap donuts that's just suppose to let you limp home.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, a couple things... front tire blows, spare or not, the vehicle is gonna jerk. Gotta wonder if even experienced drivers would know how to react, or if there was even time to react. It's all in a split second. Years ago I had a wheel bearing lock up on a front tire on a pickup truck when I was on a curve going 55 on a two-lane highway. The road curved left and I went straight off the curve into the dirt. All I could do was ride it out. Zero steering. If it would have been a right-hand curve, I'd have surely crossed the center line and who knows what would have happened.

Regardless, a 13 year old kid shouldn't be behind the wheel of a pickup doing 75 on a two-lane highway for any reason but dire emergency, accident or not.

Anyhow, condolences to the families of all of the victims and hopes for the survivors' recovery.

 

[hube2]

Well, a couple things... front tire blows, spare or not, the vehicle is gonna jerk. Gotta wonder if even experienced drivers would know how to react, or if there was even time to react. It's all in a split second. Years ago I had a wheel bearing lock up on a front tire on a pickup truck when I was on a curve going 55 on a two-lane highway. The road curved left and I went straight off the curve into the dirt. All I could do was ride it out. Zero steering. If it would have been a right-hand curve, I'd have surly crossed the center line and who knows what would have happened.

Regardless, a 13 year old kid shouldn't be behind the wheel of a pickup doing 75 on a two-lane highway for any reason but dire emergency, accident or not.

Anyhow, condolences to the families of all of the victims and hopes for the survivors' recovery.

Exactly, I have been driving and had a front tire blow. It was only luck that I was the only one on the road.

I also had a ball joint give on a car once. That time is was luck it was on the passenger side and I went into a ditch instead of oncoming traffic.

You don't have any control, so I doubt it matters who was driving or how old they were.

Like someone else said, we would have probably never heard about this if not for the fact that the driver was 13. These types of accidents with loss of life probably happen more often than anyone thinks they do and don't make national news.

 

[jyoutz]

To me, the only reason to mention that it was a spare that it was obviously a spare, which means it was one of those crap donuts that's just suppose to let you limp home.

I’ve never heard of those being provided for trucks.

 

[Diggin It]

A little more information .....

Family of driver, 13, in Texas crash 'lost everything' in fire last year, pastor says​

NBC News|2 hours ago
The unidentified boy died in the collision along with his dad, Henrich Siemens, a 38-year-old passenger in the truck. Six New Mexico college golfers and their coach were killed, too.



...

 

[jyoutz]

Well, a couple things... front tire blows, spare or not, the vehicle is gonna jerk. Gotta wonder if even experienced drivers would know how to react, or if there was even time to react. It's all in a split second. Years ago I had a wheel bearing lock up on a front tire on a pickup truck when I was on a curve going 55 on a two-lane highway. The road curved left and I went straight off the curve into the dirt. All I could do was ride it out. Zero steering. If it would have been a right-hand curve, I'd have surly crossed the center line and who knows what would have happened.

Regardless, a 13 year old kid shouldn't be behind the wheel of a pickup doing 75 on a two-lane highway for any reason but dire emergency, accident or not.

Anyhow, condolences to the families of all of the victims and hopes for the survivors' recovery.

I had a front wheel come off a truck while driving down the highway. The brake drum (old truck) carved a groove in the asphalt while I skidded to a stop. I looked and never found the wheel.

 

[Clintock]

The age of the driver and vehicle speed as well who the rider was is not an intended accident. No one intended to have an accident. if the driver was any age still would the condition be acceptable. ?
Living in N.Mex when my children were aged 10 and 12 and only ones that did not know how to drive a vehicle. and I allowed them to practice driving the ranch kids living 5 to 15 miles on their father's ranch would drive to high way and then get on the bus usually senior-school-aged drivers driving the bus.
Many children drove their own pick-ups with horse trailers or cattle trailers to school for rodeo practice after school.
I learned to drive before 1st.grade .Model "A" car then Dad bought a '29 Oldsmobile removed the rear seats to carry cream cans to the creamery daily. many times I drove. age experience and attention to what you are doing but when a tire blows (of course supposed to know it will happen) or picking up an iron item that cuts the tire. and animal crossing the road (Deer Antilope or even hitting a cow so swerve to miss.
Not much help after the accident to place blame. Also, more than likely there are more Lawyers than inhabitants in the closest town. all looking for the wealthiest person to sue.
Let's get some information accurate before blaming the driver.
terrible Yes was the school the blame for requiring the daily trip instead of a Motel for the tournament?
driver the blame for a faulty tire on pickup.
Only time will tell

I ain’t blaming the kid or even the daddy. Like I said before the daddy may have been hurt. And it may just as well have happened to anyone behind a wheel. I learned on country backroads pulling hay trailers. I was working part time at 13 driving myself back and forth to work. All I’m saying is the state is definitely not to blame.

 

[RalphVa]

"From the logging roads of the Pacific Northwest to the farm country of the Great Plains and beyond, it's not uncommon for people in rural parts of the U.S. to learn to drive when they're young, sometimes even before they reach their teens.

But the news that a 13-year-old was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that blew a tire and struck a van on a dark, two-lane road in West Texas on Tuesday night, killing nine people — including six members of a New Mexico college's golf teams and their coach — put a renewed focus on the practice.

At a news conference in Odessa, Texas, on Thursday, National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said the dangers of underage driving put it on the agency’s “most-wanted list.” "

-------------------------------------------------

"The cause of Tuesday's crash in Andrews County, Texas, near the New Mexico border, wasn't clear, but federal authorities said Thursday that the 13-year-old was driving a Dodge pickup on a road with a 75 mph speed limit when its front left tire, a spare, blew out.

The truck veered across the center line into an oncoming transit van carrying the golf team from the University of the Southwest, in Hobbs, New Mexico. The boy and a man in the truck with him were killed, along with members of the golf teams and their coach."

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-03-17/explainer-driver-in-texas-crash-was-13-is-that-legal

---

Aside from any other aspects of this, a 75MPH speed limit on a two lane road is completely and totally unacceptable. The state is at least partially responsible here.

Some people just plain should not reproduce. Letting a 13 year old drive a vehicle with a sorry tire on the front.

 

[jyoutz]

I ain’t blaming the kid or even the daddy. Like I said before the daddy may have been hurt. And it may just as well have happened to anyone behind a wheel. I learned on country backroads pulling hay trailers. I was working part time at 13 driving myself back and forth to work. All I’m saying is the state is definitely not to blame.

I taught my sons to drive on dirt roads in the woods. I have been on these oilfield highways and they aren’t safe for experienced drivers due to speeding trucks and other equipment. The last time I drove on those roads I got a broken windshield and nearly run off the road. Most parents would not let a 13 year old drive on those roads.

 

[bcp]

From:

MSN

www.msn.com

He also explained that the left front tire of the vehicle had been replaced by a spare – though not a “donut” emergency tire – which caused the vehicle to pull when it failed.


Bruce

 

[MossRoad]

I had a front wheel come off a truck while driving down the highway. The brake drum (old truck) carved a groove in the asphalt while I skidded to a stop. I looked and never found the wheel.

Last October I had a left rear tire come off my Suburban with little warning. That was easy to control compared to a front. Silver skid mark gouged into the asphalt from my brake rotor as well, several hundred yards long. No fun. No injuries or property damage, thank goodness.

 

[MossRoad]

A little more information .....

Family of driver, 13, in Texas crash 'lost everything' in fire last year, pastor says​

NBC News|2 hours ago
The unidentified boy died in the collision along with his dad, Henrich Siemens, a 38-year-old passenger in the truck. Six New Mexico college golfers and their coach were killed, too.



...

How sad.