CNN story
I have only one question: why were these children allowed to be out on the road without an adult? It is illegal for a 15-yr-old to drive without one.
Isn’t it kind of irrelevant? The accident wasn’t even the kid’s fault.
Who cares if the driver was 15 or 50. They got rear-ended by a cargo train on wheels. If you have a stopped bus in front of you and 40 tons bareeling in behing you, no amount of driving experience is gonna save yer ass.
As far as the accident is concerned, no.
I think it negligent to allowed an underaged driver to be on the road by herself, much less with six youner children.
Whos says they were “allowed” out on the road? It’s not unprecedented for kids of that age to sneak out behind their parents’ backs and do things they’re not “allowed” to do. In any case, it appears to be immaterial to the root cause of the accident:
It says in your link that it is illegal.
Then it says:
The Cop said about the truck who did cause the accident:
Jim
And on preview I see I am late.
Her abilities are not in question. That carload of kids shouldn’t have been there at all.
I work with a lady who knows the parents. I asked her about that, and she shrugged and said, “It’s a small town. Lots of the kids drive before they get their license.”
Question: If the car hadn’t been there, would the semi have hit the bus instead?
Otherwise, I agree with those who observe that if the girl wasn’t driving illegally, she wouldn’t have been there to get killed. Doesn’t make it any less of a tragedy, mind you.
The article said the driver of the truck had some prior dings on his record, including two citations for operating a vehicle not is safe condition(2000 and 2001) and had once had his license suspended and was cited when he drove anyway. I wonder if the truck driver is being watched as a suicide risk? He’s not in custody, yet, and he might take the easy way out.
The car had no chance, no matter who was driving. But a teenage friend of the 15-yr old said she drove “all the time” Were the parents unaware of that? It’s all so sad. Seven kids and one adult to bury, in one family. That’s rough. I hope the remaining family can bear up, I can’t imagine the pain.
It is not possible to state this with certainty. It is entirely within the realm of possibility that this accident would have occurred even with an adult present in the car.
OK, so let’s go with your assertion and say that the parents have committed some form of negligence. What sort of further punishment beyond the deaths of seven of their children (and their grandfather) do you suggest?
What Q.E.D. said. It sounds like anyone in that car was likely to have been killed, regardless of the age of the driver, particularly as the car was not at fault.
Why do I get the feeling that this post is yet another case of ‘evil parents unfit to raise children’ sentament that seems to creep up any time any child is in a remotely dangerous situation. (Mr. Blue Sky, that’s not a direct jab at you, but more of an observation about many folks’ reactions to things here on the boards and IRL).
I’m not suggesting any punishment. What could be worse that what happened?
It shouldn’t just be swept under the rug, is what I’m saying.
It doesn’t matter that “other kids do it, too”. When kids who drive illegally get killed, THEN everybody wants the law to do something. The laws are already in place to try and prevent kids FROM being killed.
In Georgia, it would have been illegal for her to transport those other kids even if she was 16, for example.
Kids sneak out on their own to go joyriding with a 3 year old and a 20 month old in the car? Before heading home to go to church? :dubious:
The fifteen year old was driving the others home from school.
The guy was basically asleep at the wheel.
This is common practice in many small towns in the south (probably everywhere else, too). I cannot imagine the pain this poor woman is going through. Utterly horrendous.
I disagree. The driver had dropped one kid off and was on her way home prior to going to church. I agree that there should have been a licensed driver behind the wheel, but that does not change the fact that the carload of kids was where was supposed to be.
The New McDonald’s item was replaying to Q.E.D. (post #5).
I grew up in a small Midwest town. Pretty much all my siblings drove at a young age, but not without an adult in the car.