16yr old driver with six other kids in the car, loses control and one teen is killed (teenage, out of control)

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

Do you have teens in your home?

The truth is that most parents do the best they can. Once a person has a license and is free to do what they like, they are also free to not tell their parents exactly what they are doing. They may not have told their parents where they were actually going and who was actually going to be in the car.

As parents we do the best we can to teach our children to make good choices. The sad fact is that not every child will receive the information.

Are you kidding?

You sound like part of the problem.

Let me explain something to you, this accident I just mentioned the father of the driver owned the car.

Do you know what that means? He is liable for any lawsuits filed. His son was driving a car where another boy was killed and others were injured.

I guarantee once the dust settles, there will be a lawsuit filed by the parents of the dead boy.

He could have his wages garnished, his savings taken, the only thing they can't take in FL is your house.

What a ridiculous comment you made. They're free to do what they like when their actions can no longer come back to bite the parent in the a**.

My brother and I were told when we got our licenses that our parents worked too hard for what they have to have it taken away because of our reckless behavior.

This is bad parenting.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

That is still way too late. There is no reason to have underage people driving that late.

And FL like other states doesn't limit the number of passengers in the car.

Most of these crashes always have a car load of kids, the driver is showing off. If it was limited to one passenger the driver would be less likely to try and impress anyone.

Something is wrong when FL leads the nation in deadly teen crashes.

I grew up in NY, you had to be off the road by 9pm until you were 18.

The majority of these crashes happen at night.

It is a tragedy when a young person dies in a car accident. However, teen deaths in car crashes are at an all time low.

Why teen driving deaths have tumbled to historic lows - CSMonitor.com

Florida does have a graduated license system and according to this site it does not lead the US in teen traffic fatalities.

Teenage Driver Crash Statistics

It should not surprise anyone that since FL is one of the most populated states it has more crashes than other states. As you can see NY, CA, FL, TX have more deaths than smaller states.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by Eresh

It's a very sad and all too common thing in the news.

However, I wonder if the parents were even aware their kid was driving with that many others in the vehicle.

This. Last year there were 4 football players killed in a crash in New Jersey. I often believe the parents have no idea who is in the car with their child when things like this happened. In any event, can we stop with the parent-blaming every time a child is killed?

Four New Jersey football players die in one-car crash - USATODAY.com

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by auntieannie68

the state i live in up north has one to two similar accidents weekly and it is in a primarily rural area---less populated than tampa bay---without laws governing this type of teen behaviors---here is where parenting and getting your kid ready to drive maturely comes into play imo

There actually are laws in Pennsylvania about teens and how many passengers are allowed in the car.

PennDOT Driver and Vehicle Services - New Teen Drivers

Act 81 places increased restrictions on the number and age of passengers which a junior driver license holder may transport. Current law limits drivers under the age of 18 to transporting no more passengers than the number of seat belts in the vehicle.

As of Dec. 27, 2011, for the first six months after receiving their junior driver’s license, a driver is not permitted to have more than one passenger under age 18 who is not an immediate family member (brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister of the junior driver and adopted or foster children living in the same household as the junior driver) in their vehicle unless they are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. If they have not been convicted of a driving violation or been partially or fully responsible for a reportable crash after six months, they may have up to three passengers under age 18 who are not immediate family members without a parent or legal guardian present. If they have any convictions or are partially or fully responsible for a reportable crash while a junior driver, they are once again restricted to one passenger.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Are you kidding?

You sound like part of the problem.

Nice try but what evidence do you have to support that claim? My son has had a license for over 2 years with no tickets or accidents. My middle son has his permit and will probably get a license this fall. We take a go slow approach to driving.

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Let me explain something to you, this accident I just mentioned the father of the driver owned the car.

What a ridiculous comment you made. They're free to do what they like when their actions can no longer come back to bite the parent in the a**.

You know sometimes kids lie. Once they have a license they can tell you one thing and do another. If they get home on time you never know that they did something other than what they said they did. It doesn't mean their parents LET THEM DO IT.

A drivers license gives a child a lot of freedom to do things behind their parents back. Not all kids do these things. Some do and sometimes there are tragic consequences. But it's not always their parents fault.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Funny how we adults want to change the rules after we get ___________________(fill in the blank).

I'm one of those people who grew up driving cars without seatbelts and riding, or driving, with a car load. How oh how did we survive?

Most 16 yr. olds are not as mature as 16 yr. olds 30+ years ago. There were no cell phones (or very few bag phones) to chat upon or text with while driving. Take it back to 50 years ago and many kids had been driving farm trucks and tractors since the age of 12 before they obtained their regular driver's license.

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

...........A drivers license gives a child a lot of freedom to do things behind their parents back. Not all kids do these things. Some do and sometimes there are tragic consequences. But it's not always their parents fault.

While it may not be their parents' fault it is their parents' responsibility.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Most 16 yr. olds are not as mature as 16 yr. olds 30+ years ago. There were no cell phones (or very few bag phones) to chat upon or text with while driving. Take it back to 50 years ago and many kids had been driving farm trucks and tractors since the age of 12 before they obtained their regular driver's license.

While it may not be their parents' fault it is their parents' responsibility.

The OP wrote:

"What kind of parents allow a teenager free reign to drive with a carload of kids."

My comments relate specifically to the idea that the parents LET the kid do this. The parent may not have let the child do any such thing.

[Eresh]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Most 16 yr. olds are not as mature as 16 yr. olds 30+ years ago. There were no cell phones (or very few bag phones) to chat upon or text with while driving. Take it back to 50 years ago and many kids had been driving farm trucks and tractors since the age of 12 before they obtained their regular driver's license.

While it may not be their parents' fault it is their parents' responsibility.

I didn't see anyone say it wasn't the parents' responsibility. Of course parents are responsible for their children's actions. That doesn't mean the parents allow it. A lot of teens go against their parents' rules, but that doesn't mean the parents are horrible. It means they have teenaged child.

[cleasach]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

The sad fact is that not every child will receive the information.

I'm sure that even kids who receive information from their parents to obey the rules of the road and drive carefully can do reckless things. They're teenagers after all. Accidents due to recklessness are certainly not limited to kids that have oblivious parents.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

The OP wrote:

"What kind of parents allow a teenager free reign to drive with a carload of kids."

My comments relate specifically to the idea that the parents LET the kid do this. The parent may not have let the child do any such thing.

Sorry, there are way too many of these incidents in FL that the parents can't all be in the dark. Sure there are cases where the kids take the car, that has been going on since cars were invented.

I see it by my local high school. Car loads of teens peeling out of the parking lot. You're going to tell me these parents don't see this? They don't know their teen has a carload of kids?

And Tampa/St.Pete/Clearwater leads the nation in deadly teen crashes, FL is also #1 in hit and runs.

There was an incident awhile back where a 16yr old hit and killed a homeless woman, she didn't stop. It was around 10pm...again too late for them to be driving.

She got a slap on the wrist, the parents hid the car. The defense played it up that she was "a child", OK, well then why is "a child" driving a car alone at 10pm???????

I have lived in 5 states and I have never seen it this extreme.

FL is very lax on road safety, an estimated 40% of FL drivers have no car insurance.

They don't test seniors, you have 80yr olds renewing DLs over the phone, and get a license that's good for 8 yrs.

FL is the ONLY state that I walked into a DMV and walked out with a license, and didn't have to take a written test.

And you're the one who said "if they have a license they can do what they like". That's a dumb comment.

They can do what they like when they have their own insurance and the car is in their name.

And actually in FL there is a law that if the teen takes the car without permission it is reported as a stolen vehicle.

In my area a teen took the car without permission and the mother reported it stolen(she knew he took it), well he got into a head on and killed the other driver(a cop on his way to work).

It was a mess, the kid was looking at 30yrs(which was ridiculous), and only because he the driver he hit was a cop. He ended up getting I believe 3 yrs.

Most of these cases the parents aren't clueless, they're just lazy and they're not monitoring their children's behavior.

When I lived in both NY and CA one of the local station ran a great ad "It's 10pm, do you know where your childern are?"

Never seen it run down here in the dumbshine state.