# Any hope for the son of this self-absorbed jerk? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317 "2006-08-11T18:07:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/41 "2006-08-12T01:45:32Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] That’s why a parent with more than 1 working brain cell does not get a 17 y.o. boy a car than can go 140mph, rather than using their child’s vehicle as another example of conspicuous consumption. [/QUOTE] Word. I just don’t know what the fuck some people are thinking. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/42 "2006-08-12T13:44:10Z")
[QUOTE=The Swan] No, no, no. Didn’t you read the OP??? It’s the RICH PEOPLE who are to blame. [/QUOTE] I thought we all learned the lesson from Mel that it’s the Jews. Or are “the Lawyers” and “the Rich People” are code words for the Jews? (along with “New Yorkers”) 😃 ;j 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/43 "2006-08-12T14:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] **Wang-Ka** , while both of those vehicles are able to be driven recklessly, neither will be topping 100 or drag racing. My ire, and I suspect others, is that the father and his children would have gotten away with murder, and he’s griping that they were forced to tell the truth and take responsibility for murder. [/QUOTE] Either car would easily top 100 without much trouble. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/44 "2006-08-12T15:06:08Z")
[QUOTE=The Swan] Either car would easily top 100 without much trouble. [/QUOTE] Highway, maybe (depends on how well the Ford was rebuilt). But not quickly, which kills drag racing down Route 106\*, a business/residential street with which I am very familiar. Any vehicle can be driven recklessly. However, you don’t street race in old Fords or run-of-the-mill Chevy’s. AND, while many 17 y.o. boys act as though they are invincible, families who provide such vehicles and/or boys who earn them are already showing increased signs of responsibility - the kind of signs that might point out the inherent flaws with inexperienced drivers racing in residential areas. \*Route 106, in Nassau County, NY, is not mentioned in the Time article, but that is where this accident occured. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/45 "2006-08-12T15:12:15Z")
Here are details of the crash, from [Newsday](http://www.newsday.com/other/education/ny-news_91404,0,2264948.story): > [@](#): > > On June 10, 2002, police said, Soukup and Slade were driving north on Route 106 in Muttontown. Witnesses told police that the teenagers were driving side-by-side as they accelerated, which Walsh said indicated they were engaging in a speeding contest. Bretous and Desir, riding in the 1993 Jeep, were turning left from Route 106 onto Muttontown Road, when their Jeep was slammed by the cars driven by Soukup and Slade. > > Although it’s rare to prosecute a person for murder in fatal car crashes, Walsh said his office decided to do so in this case due to several factors, including the fact that Soukup and Slade were reckless, racing in an area where there are homes with driveways leading onto Route 106, Walsh said. But the main factor his office is prosecuting the young men for murder, Walsh said, was the excessive speed. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/46 "2006-08-12T16:29:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Here’s the deal: The kids claimed they were only doing about 50 when they crashed. They were doing almost 140! More almost three times the stated speed! The prosecutors were able to prove the excessive speed! [/QUOTE] What i don’t get is why the prosecution even needed the Electronic Data Recorder to prove excessive speed. Surely the accident investigation people could have told them, based on the damage, the skidmarks, etc., roughly how fast the cars were going? There’s a huge difference between the amount of damage caused at 50mph, and the amount at 140mph. And surely the witnesses mentioned in **D\_Odds** ’s story would have helped. While they probably can’t say exactly how fast the cars were going, the difference between 50 and 140 is pretty obvious. Anyhow, at least the EDR sealed the deal. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/47 "2006-08-12T17:13:41Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Surely the accident investigation people could have told them, based on the damage, the skidmarks, etc., roughly how fast the cars were going? [/QUOTE] My understanding of “accident investigation professionals” is that they’re a lot like other proffessional witnesses in that it’s not a very thoroughly advanced or scientific field. Reports that I have read hav had different accident investigators, even those working for the same organization and without differing biases in what type of conclusion people might want them to produce, have had vastly different conclusions about speed, cause of the accident, etc., often by a factor of 2 x or more. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/48 "2006-08-12T17:35:12Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] I thought we all learned the lesson from Mel that it’s the Jews. Or are “the Lawyers” and “the Rich People” are code words for the Jews? (along with “New Yorkers”) 😃 ;j 😃 [/QUOTE] You got it, Sugar Tits. 😛 BTW, did they also have any added charges for perjury? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/49 "2006-08-12T18:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Highway, maybe (depends on how well the Ford was rebuilt). But not quickly, which kills drag racing down Route 106\*, a business/residential street with which I am very familiar. Any vehicle can be driven recklessly. However, you don’t street race in old Fords or run-of-the-mill Chevy’s. AND, while many 17 y.o. boys act as though they are invincible, families who provide such vehicles and/or boys who earn them are already showing increased signs of responsibility - the kind of signs that might point out the inherent flaws with inexperienced drivers racing in residential areas. \*Route 106, in Nassau County, NY, is not mentioned in the Time article, but that is where this accident occured. [/QUOTE] There a large number of kids out there who will drag race any car they happen to be driving, so long as they are unsure about the car they are up against. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317/50 "2006-08-13T05:06:11Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] My understanding of “accident investigation professionals” is that they’re a lot like other proffessional witnesses in that it’s not a very thoroughly advanced or scientific field. Reports that I have read hav had different accident investigators, even those working for the same organization and without differing biases in what type of conclusion people might want them to produce, have had vastly different conclusions about speed, cause of the accident, etc., often by a factor of 2 x or more. [/QUOTE] I don’t know about over where this happened but at least here in CA the CHP and just about any large city department have specialized people who do more detailed analysis of fatal accident scenes. There is actually alot of work in making this as scientific as possible, unfortunately you are dealing with a mountain of variables that could choke a bevy of well made new PC’s. Even if you plugged in every scrap of data you could get your hands on into some kind of simulation model you could probably get 15 methods to get the end result. It dosen’t make it unscientific, just lacking data for a detailed breakdown of exactly what happened. If the data they have creates ambiguous results they usually know where to look to help firm up those results one way or the other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-hope-for-the-son-of-this-self-absorbed-jerk/368317.md?page=2)