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<p>Following the SUV was another car with 4 of their friends who witnessed it all.</p>
<p>Horrible tragedy. Not sure why it is national news though. </p>
<p>Still, my condolences go out to their friends and families.</p>
<p>I think the news people almost want to send a warning reminder. HS and college kids are jumping into cars and heading places.</p>
<p>When my son was lost on Pike’s Peak, 3 stations sent cameras. He was the first one of the season to get lost and they wanted to people to realize the dangers (that’s what I was told).</p>
<p>Mary, I hope that reminder helps. It’s such a terribly sad story. I was reading about each girl this morning and where they were planning to go to college in the fall, getting a small glimpse into the lives of five girls who are all the same age as my youngest. I can’t imagine what their families are going through, and I truly feel for the girls who were in the second car and witnessed the accident. I hope someone is keeping a close eye on those kids and gets them access to proper counselling. </p>
<p>We have a vacation home in that area so I know those roads well. Generally speaking, it is hilly and the roads are often winding, with a gravel shoulder. It looks like perhaps when she pulled back in after passing, she may have touched that gravel shoulder and it sent her veering back across the road. I’m not sure what time of day it happened but if it was after dark, it would be even worse. Poorly lit, if at all, and the area is filled with deer, it’s often difficult to see the road properly when blinded by oncoming traffic. It’s one of those instances where you wish you could push some giant rewind button and have them make a different decision. So very sad.</p>
<p>This news item brought back memories of my high school days. Yes, my school lost many in post grad crashes. I don’y know why. The young lives lost from my school were not drinkers nor irresponsible-but the crashes happened all the same.
Sometimes it just happens and why it happens to these young people, I don’t know.<br>
All I know is that all must be grateful that this tight knit community upstate has banded together and that these young girls will be remebered.</p>
<p>I live in this area and often take that road to get to Canandaigua about 10 miles away. I planned on using it to teach my D during the summer now that she has her permit. It is easy to get frustrated on this road when you are behind a slower vehicle for miles before you get a chance to pass. What is making me angry are the reports that the van the girls were trying to pass actually sped up to make the pass more difficult, possibly contributing to the driver’s loss of control. I pray to God that this was not the case, and if it was, it is on someone’s conscience out there. </p>
<p>This is the second multi-fatality accident in a month and a half - three died in an accident west of Rochester a few weeks before. In both cases, the drivers had a restricted license where you cannot drive after 9PM and cannot have other minors in the car, and the rules were ignored.</p>
<p>6000 teens a year die in automobile accidents. 6000 tragedies a year! 6000 families torn apart by grief. 16 teens PER DAY. It’s hard to imagine.</p>
<p>Could you imagine the outcry if those statistics were caused by anything except cars? And yet we do so little but give condolences.</p>
<p>I was so sad when I read about this accident…what a terrible thing. :(</p>
<p>We had a similar accident on a notoriously dangerous I-45 overpass outside of the The Woodlands, north of Houston. The otherwise modern freeway pinched off into a narrow two lane overpass with the shoulder-less south and northbound lanes separated only by concrete barrier and old chainlink fencing. Four beautiful girls from The Woodlands on their way to Galveston for day of fun…in the wrong place at the wrong time when an 18 wheeler broke through the barrier and landed on their small car, killing them all in a fiery crash. I just so happened to be at a tile store a couple of exits away when it happened and traffic was stopped in both directions for half the day. But, because of this terrible tragedy and the resulting publicity, that overpass was demolished and replaced with a huge modern and SAFE structure. Hopefully in this most recent case, good will come of the publicity as well. Who knows… maybe kids around the country will read or hear about these NY girls and will be just a little more careful when driving.</p>