<p><a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/05/27/state/n083303D09.DTL[/url]”>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/05/27/state/n083303D09.DTL</a></p>
<p>lots of things to think about and it puts it all back into perspective</p>
<p>So, so sad.
This is the reason I am more than happy to cough up the $70 for a shared limo to these events. It only takes a couple of seconds of distraction to bring disaster.
I can only imagine the heartache of the families.</p>
<p>This is horrific. And I am reading this article and this exact thing pretty much happened to my child 2 1/2 months ago even driving alone (is not yet by law or by us allowed to drive others)…was distracted for a second, looked back up, was heading toward guardrail going 65, hit mountain rock ledge, flipped car over several times. Why my child got to live and recover and why these other precious children all did not, I have no idea…unfair. This is a horror for those families. I had my own horror but I have my child and she has a full recovery from such a similar severity of an accident. Us parents worry every time the kids get in a car, you just never know. Meanwhile, I am a brave mamma because my other child who is 18 is currently driving 4500 miles to Alaska (reached Denver tonight) and while I know there are risks, she is extremely responsible. But even then, anything can happen. But when ya put all those prom kids in one vehicle with young drivers and all the excitement of prom, it likely even increased the risks. </p>
<p>Too many tragedies with children…I don’t even know them but it is heartbreaking. Three young children died in a river in VT in the past day, another tragedy. All just so sad. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>i heard about it at school. very sad.</p>
<p>This accident was just a couple of miles from my house. Horrible. She just took her eyes off the road for a sec. </p>
<p>My H.S. son drives this tollroad.</p>
<p><going into=“” the=“” den=“” to=“” hug=“” my=“” kids.=“”></going></p>
<p>~Bye, Manyhats Mom</p>
<p>manyhats what city do you live in? Newport Coast? becuase that is where it happened. i live in newport beach and i had friends who knew those kids.</p>
<p>So terrible!</p>
<p>My son’s prom was tonight. </p>
<p>I’m a very tense mom right now.</p>
<p>no seat belts were worn…</p>
<p>Blueayou-</p>
<p>Thanks for pointing that out! Seatbelts are critical. How often do we hear of an accident where the seatbelt wearers walked away unharmed, and all other died? It’s a pretty simple, clear message, IMHO.</p>
<p>I’ve been in three serious accidents where it seems likely that I would have been killed, or seen an immediate family member killed, but for our seatbelts. I’ve explained to people who “never wear them” that I refuse to drive unless everyone in the car buckles up. Even if a passenger doesn’t care about his own survival, I don’t want a 180-pound projectile bouncing around in the car if I have to stop suddenly.</p>
<p>Seat belts. Here’s our story. Went to FLA to visit the folks, with me and the two boys. Go to the movies with mom and dad. Mom gets in back seat, middle, between the two boys. Does not put on seat belt. ??? “Oh I never wear seat belt in back seat.” I pull a quiet, forcelful, clear and concise fit, and Mom puts that seat belt on and quits being a jerk and poor example to my children, her grandkids, one of whom earned his drivers’ license not two weeks earlier.</p>
<p>We see the movie. Hah, you thought we would have an accident on the way there, right?</p>
<p>Going home, I sit in back, in the middle, between the boys. Not going to even have the other conversation again. Well, on the trip home is when we are rear ended by an 18 WHEELER hello? Multi car accident. Glass everywhere. (Praise to the inventers of safety glass - we would have been beheaded else.) </p>
<p>Seat belts? The middle back seat passenger would have been thrown through the front car seats and through the front windshield into oncoming traffic. Oh yeah, that’s something you want to see - hmmm oh yeah, that’s an experience you want your loved ones to have pasted on their brains forever. </p>
<p>Anyway, you may think it’s your decision whether to wear seat belts, and your live you take in your hands. Well, I say, what about the witnesses? What about the poor souls who live through your gross decision? It’s not just the seat belt wearer/ not wearer at risk. It’s the folks who’ll watch them die, too.</p>
<p>A colleague of mine lost her daughter in a car accident. On her way home in the rain, after celebrating her birthday with friends. One year out of college. No seatbelt. She lost control on the wet pavement, and her head hit the windshield. None of us wants to be that mom. Ever.</p>
<p>I will never forget when my pediatrician had seatbelts on the checklist, not for the child, but for the parents…“you must wear one so that you survive an accident now that you have children” conversation…</p>
<p>When my kids were small I simply told them that the car wouldn’t start until they were buckled up – they were probably in their teens before they realized that the car didn’t really have a safety-belt/ignition lock system. Anyway, I never tolerated any passenger in the car without seatbelts, nor did their dad – and I know they use the belts as a matter of habit, without even thinking about it. I mean, in our family its just unthinkable - we would sooner drive around stark naked than go without the belt. I’m also the nut case that digs up grungy and buried seabelts from the recesses of the back seat whenever I get into a taxi… and fretted about the fact that school buses don’t have seat belts.</p>
<p>So sorry to hear about that prom accident. Just horrible for everyone. Soozie: I did hear about the teenagers in Vermont. Hugs.</p>
<p>Re: seatbelts. My car doesn’t get started unless everyone is wearing one. Sure, my Volvo can take a lot… but there’s nothing like NOT going through the windshield during an accident. Can’t understand parents who don’t wear seatbelts. </p>
<p>Perhaps the prom kids didn’t want to wrinkle their clothes, or the seatbelts wouldn’t fit around the poofy dresses? Or, maybe, with 7 people in the car, there weren’t enough?</p>
<p>we had the same type of ignition that wouldn’t start unless seat belts were clicked.
So sad- this is a dangerous time of year for drivers.
( and for pedestrians- everyone is in a hurry so watch out!)</p>
<p>momsdream, how did the prom go?</p>
<p>That’s terrible, my thoughts are with their families.</p>
<p>I must say however that 30+ years on the job as a firefighter has taught me one thing; **PREDICTABLE IS PREVENTABLE **. What I mean is people can learn from their own mistakes and from those of others. This type of crash is no surprise.</p>
<p>In this case a speeding (70MPH) SUV apparently rolled multiple times. It was driven by an inexperienced (16 y.o.) driver and filled with other teenagers. SUV’s are well known to be highly susceptible to rollovers, especially in the hands of an inexperienced driver. Having other kids in the same vehicle is a proven distraction for teenagers, this has been well documented and publicized. Speeding is a major factor in a large percentage of highway crashes.</p>
<p>I cannot tell you how many times that I have seen people simply ignore common sense, resulting in tragic often life changing outcomes. Many people are downright indignant about it with attitudes such as “the government is not going to tell me I have to wear a (seatbelt/helmet, you fill in the blank).” I’ve gotten to the point where I hate to hear this type of thing referred to as an “accident”. This was a preventable tragic crash. The attitude that “that kind of thing only happens to other people” is prevalent. It’s a shame.</p>
<p>Seatbelts are mandated for everyone in all our cars, too. </p>
<p>When my two older children were both less than 4 years old, we were in a Ford Econoline van, stopped in a left turn lane, waiting for the light to change from red to the green arrow. There were 5 or 6 cars in the lane in front of us, all small to mid-size. </p>
<p>A full-sized pick-up truck drove into the back of my van. The driver was drunk. [It was 4:30 in the afternoon.] He did not realize this was the turn lane, and did not notice the light was red. </p>
<p>Our van was pushed into the cars in front of us, four of them, just like dominos. The frame on our van was bent as the van took the impact of the crash. My children were in carseats, and I was wearing a seatbelt with shoulder harness. </p>
<p>No one in any of the other four cars was wearing a seatbelt. </p>
<p>The car directly in front of me was a subcompact. Had our van not been in that line-up, I feel certain that at least the driver of the first car in front of me would have been killed. </p>
<p>I had a crunchy neck for a while afterwards, but my children, safe in their carseats were not even bruised.</p>
<p>I am so sorry for these families. Every parents’ nightmare.</p>
<p>We have been in the states for a couple weeks for family events (funeral of my dad, college graduation of my son – talk about roller coaster emotions!) and have been hit TWICE! Someone backed into our parked rental car. A week later, D and I were sitting in a line of traffic at a stop light and got rear-ended (I was driving). We weren’t hurt at all, and neither accident was our fault. But D, almost 16 and new recipient of her driving permit, was really shaken. I took this “teachable moment” to discuss why her father and I get so frantic when one of our sons is out late with a car or in a car. It doesn’t matter how good of a driver you are, you can’t control the other people on the road!</p>
<p>I look forward to our permanent return to the states next year, but I will miss the German driving.</p>