teenage tragedy

[deere755]

Nick told me to make matters worse one of the girls who was in the wreck and not hurt seriously lost her Mom to cancer this past Saturday. That would be tough on her to be in an accident where she lost her best friend and lose her a Mom a couple weeks later. Keep her in your prays.

 

[Mounted Madness]

After retiring 5 years ago following 28+ years of front line policing, it still amazes me when such collisions occur. With the safety being built into the cars these days, from seatbelts, to airbags, to anti-skid - one still wonders why?

Today, rather then driving cars like we did, that handled poorly (to todays standards), people now drive safety cocoons with too many distractions. Some people can drive well, and others can operate a cell phone well - but not both.

Multi-tasking is considered routine today. I recall reading 40 years ago, that our brain makes well over 100 decisions a minute while driving in normal, daylight, uncompromised traffic. Start adding traffic, night conditions, drinking drivers, cell phones, teenage distraction - it turns into a perfect storm.

A number of years ago, a head-on collision between an Olds 442 with a bunch of boisterous, drinking teenagers and a Renault Alliance turned into a terrible scene, and was burned into my soul. I subsequently described that scene to every graduating class I could reach out to in the following years. I think it worked...with those kids anyway.

These events don't just hurt the victims. They have an impact on family members, every friend...everyone within those 6 degrees of seperation.

Education, teaching better driving skills, enforcement, and the pledge between parent and child that whenever there is a need for a ride, it'll be provided no questions asked that night. Get them home alive. Deal with the education in the morning.

...'nuff said.

 

[dmccarty]

I didn't do any drinking, and don't guess I ever did anything "bad" except for stunt driving, racing, and such. Officers are not supposed to see the results of the background investigation that was done before they were hired, but many years later, I did happen to see mine. Everyone they contacted gave me a good recommendation except the police chief in the little town in which I graduated from high school, and he told the investigator that as far as he knew I'd never been in any trouble or done anything really wrong. So the investigator asked if he would hire me as an officer if he had an opening and he said he would not because of my "reputation as a hotrodder" in that town.:laughing: He was not even an officer himself when I lived in that town, I had never been stopped or been issued a ticket in that town. But I'll admit he was right.:laughing: Of course, this was 6 years after high school and long after I quit hotrodding.

My badness was ignorance of how much one can drink and still be able to drive. I can only think of a couple of times I drove, and looking back should not have but it was just ignorance. But it only takes one time to end in disaster.

I guess your story proves your reputation follows you. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[tugboat-2]

Well BIRD,... good, bad or otherwise,... had I been the investigator,.. I just may have given careful consideration to your "hot-rodding" days. Certainly I'd want to discuss it with you.

I too am guilty of a great deal of teen-age "hot-rodding". I loved to go out in the middle of a snow-stormy-night when the local grocery store was closed and their huge empty paved parking lot was either snow covered or iced over from freezing rain etc.

I spent many hours practicing spin outs and how to recover. Mind you, I was alone and no matter how it looked, (stupid teen tearing up his car?) Did same sort of things in summer with mud or wet grass etc.

"THOSE" driving experiences are the "instincts" that now come naturally to me when driving in "any" possible weather condition Canada can throw at me. I'm not "over-confident" but have the confidence to stay calm and not panic when some unforseen driving situation arises,... suddenly!

I can honestly say that the ONLY weather condition that causes me to sit up and be sharp,..... is thick fog! (My life includes cars, busses, 18 wheelers and anything else that deals in bad weather).

Actually, I have never lost that "urge" to "practice" various emergency tactics when the occasion arises and its a "safe" place. Those "instincts" have served me very well over the years. (Served me well in the Police Service also. Never lost a chase or high-speed emergency or health run and never wrecked a cruiser,.. some close calls I suppose but the instincts paid off).

Didn't mean to be so lengthy BIRD, but I can well imagine that the "instincts" engrained in your brain from your youthful "hot-rodding" experiences, served you well in life also. AND,... that is the reason I would have given all due consideration to that experience some others may not have. And (as you well know) "Driving" IS an important aspect of Police Service!

CHEERS !
. . tug .......(PS: I guess I hijacked the thread,...Oops, sorry!)

PPS : ...just going back over your story there Bird,... My-oh-My, and good grief,.....six years after high school, long after your hotrod days and from a man who was not even "on-the-job" at the time,..nor was he even in that town at the time,.......... and yet,..Me-oh-My and WOW,.. how blessed "huge" was your "Hot-Rodding-Reputation"!!!?? My-my!!
Oh Good Grief BIRD,...but you musta been a baaaad, baaaad, boy!!!

Ah, but Yes,....I'm laughin' WITH ya,...not atcha,.. my friend,..lol

PPPS : ...OH,OH ! Seriously,.. my apologies to the OP and those others I have insulted by making jokes. It most certainly was NOT intentional. I just was NOT thinking!! Please accept my apologies. Yours were serious and very sad stories and it was definitely NOT my intent to disrupt the atmosphere. . . . sorry.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Tug, I did get some traffic tickets between the ages of 18 and 23, but never for hot-rodding. I got one for running a red light, when I was 19, in the days before a right turn on red became legal in Texas. It was late at night, a black car was following me for reasons unknown through 2 or 3 turns, so I decided to lose him. I stopped for a red light with no other vehicles in sight anywhere, then turned right and poured the gas on, and that black car came around the corner with red lights and siren in the grill and I stopped so quickly he nearly rear ended me.:laughing: Unmarked police sedan. And I got some tickets for 10 mph over the limit, and in the final interview before being hired, the assistant and deputy chiefs questioned me about those things. It had been well over a year since I got the last one. They also asked what kind of mufflers I had on my car, which was OEM exhaust on a 6 cylinder Dodge Dart at the time.:laughing:

But yes, the officers I worked with after the academy wanted to know if I'd done any racing and thought that was good experience.

The only high speed chase I guess you could say I lost was shortly after I was promoted to lieutenant, and we were in a residential ares with lots of winding streets, it was the first time I'd had a police sedan with automatic transmission and power steering and I hadn't driven police vehicles in any mode other than routine transportation in at least 15 months, while I was a detective sergeant. And besides that I recognized the kid and car that ran from me, so I backed off. I knew I'd be seeing him later.:laughing:

I do have a 20 consecutive years safe driving award. They only give them in 5 year increments and I retired 2 months a 5 days short of 25 years.:laughing:

 

[mjarrels]

Teenage girl yesterday ran down a highway flagman in a small Va. town and killed him, hope her text message being sent was really important.

mark

 

[andrec999]

Hi,

Sad storey, I believe the main reason for accidents is distraction, and when the kids pack up a car with friends there is alot of distractions , also cell phones , wich are banned up here ,while driving, unless you use hand free, and text messaging wich is the worst, cause it requires to use your fingers on the keyboard , how about that for distraction.
Also the reaction to a sudden change of conditions in front of you ,specially icy roads, kids can't adjust quickly, due to lack of experience.
I was talking to a truck driver the other day and he mentionned something very interesting: that his seat warnes him about road conditions, when the roads suddenly becomes icy, he feels it in his seat. That's something you cant teach but have to experience it.
They should have retired truck drivers as instructors at driving schools.