Another Teen Fatal Today (Charles)

[SpriteZero]

Thanks Andy. Was it her sister driving? I didn't know that. Note the quote below this one. dmh says the same thing. Well, maybe this will haunt her for the rest of her life and cause her to slow down.

I was thinking this too. Perhaps she will be the one to address this recent rash of teen deaths on the roads and her story will really "get" to these kids.
Something needs to be done.

I lost my boyfriend years ago in a wreck like this...and the driver was never right in the head again.....drugs, booze to forget ...never worked...no idea what happened to her....

So very sad.....

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

Channel 7 is reporting the drivers name as Laura Ritter. I really hate to say it, but I have seen that car travelling the back roads and the driver really really drove like there was no rules. I have actually pulled over at St. Peters to allow her to pass me because she was so far up my bumper. The car was not one you could forget, it was truly 1 of a million if not 1 of a kind.

Channel 7 also states at the end of their viedo that many people that live around the accident scene was familar with that car travelling recklessly.

My prayers go out to all families involved, nobody should have to endure the pain of burying their child, nor should another child have to bear the guilt of being responsible for the death of their friend.

Yeah, I was actually on the phone with my highest-ranking supervisor when I had to deal with her one time. The speed limit was either 40 or 45 (Billingsley east, I think) and I was definently driving faster than that, 55 I'd say. There she was, driving her little piece of chit yellow car and pulls right up to the rear deck (AGAIN). I pulled over too let her pass, finished up my conversation (because it was clear to me he couldn't wait on this for me to get home, it was pretty important) and got going again. I caught up with her at a red light on Old Washington and 228. When the light turned green, she aggressively and miraculously passed 2 cars before clearing the intersection.

Can't say I'm shocked her driving killed someone. I had said on the phone to my boss the way she was driving, she'd end up killing someone. It's a shame that prediction served so true and served true at the life of a 15 year-old girl. So young too, everyone involved. I mean, I really feel bad for her in the sense that she has to live with this the rest of her life.

 

[dems4me]

I live in very close proximity and I do ALOT of driving and I've never had an encounter with the driver or the vehicle, if someone is tailgating me which happens frequently on these stretches, I don't recall that vehicle being one of them.

But it did get me to thinking if maybe we could create a thread STRICKLY dedicated to teendrivers that are driving reckless and posting license plates - no comment and banter for a parent to read through 50 pages worth - just simply a vehicle description, the offense and the license plate.

Or maybe someone could create a website for this for parents to peruse that had an age limit so mean spirited peers couldn't purposely lie about incidents. I'm not a parent, but if I was, I would be very interested in my teen's driving habits and feel a little better knowing that the southern maryland community were helping to look after one and anothers own. Even if is good feedback. Just an idea... probably another but thought I'd throw it out there as this unfortunate accident may have been avoided in some, although slight possible way. :shrug: Also if I had a kid, I could look up the feedback for the license plate before letting my child ride with others that have commented on the vehicle and driver :shrug: It's just all too sad and too many young people passing away from car accidents. Just throwing it out there.

 

[dmh]

Thanks Andy. Was it her sister driving? I didn't know that. Note the quote below this one. dmh says the same thing. Well, maybe this will haunt her for the rest of her life and cause her to slow down.

Thanks dmh. Maybe this is what it took to get this girl to slow down from what you're telling me about her driving habits. Killing another in your car has longterm psychological effects. I don't know that name but, as I said earlier, if I see her face I might know her. I hope the judge removes her driving privileges for a year or more for this.

I am very sorry that it hit so close to home for you.

I dont believe it was her sister driving, but I could be wrong.

 

[Speedy70]

I am very sorry that it hit so close to home for you.

I dont believe it was her sister driving, but I could be wrong.

No, it was not her sister. Stephanie and Laura are not sisters. Laura has an older sister who is out of school.

 

[SpriteZero]

I live in very close proximity and I do ALOT of driving and I've never had an encounter with the driver or the vehicle, if someone is tailgating me which happens frequently on these stretches, I don't recall that vehicle being one of them.

But it did get me to thinking if maybe we could create a thread STRICKLY dedicated to teendrivers that are driving reckless and posting license plates - no comment and banter for a parent to read through 50 pages worth - just simply a vehicle description, the offense and the license plate.

Or maybe someone could create a website for this for parents to peruse that had an age limit so mean spirited peers couldn't purposely lie about incidents. I'm not a parent, but if I was, I would be very interested in my teen's driving habits and feel a little better knowing that the southern maryland community were helping to look after one and anothers own. Even if is good feedback. Just an idea... probably another but thought I'd throw it out there as this unfortunate accident may have been avoided in some, although slight possible way. :shrug:

Good idea...think parents would come and look? How to keep it real and not a mean site just to get some good kid in trouble?
Anything to stop the teen deaths on these roads is worth a try!

 

[dems4me]

Good idea...think parents would come and look? How to keep it real and not a mean site just to get some good kid in trouble?
Anything to stop the teen deaths on these roads is worth a try!

Don't know. But if there's a way to confirm age limits as to who could post would help. Heck as much time on the road I spend, I wouldn't mind doing my part as part of the Southern Maryland Community to look at the drivers of the vehicles and report if I saw a youngone driving reckless or good. It's time some of us tried to step up and do SOMETHING to stop this :shrug:

 

[SpriteZero]

Don't know. But if there's a way to confirm age limits as to who could post would help. Heck as much time on the road I spend, I wouldn't mind doing my part as part of the Southern Maryland Community to look at the drivers of the vehicles and report if I saw a youngone driving reckless or good. It's time some of us tried to step up and do SOMETHING to stop this :shrug:

I agree...we, as drivers of the same road do need to be more attentive to this kids and not be afraid to report reckless behavior.
Otherwise, how will the parents know what the kids are doing in the cars?

There does need to be a way to stop the traffic deaths....

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

I live in very close proximity and I do ALOT of driving and I've never had an encounter with the driver or the vehicle, if someone is tailgating me which happens frequently on these stretches, I don't recall that vehicle being one of them.

But it did get me to thinking if maybe we could create a thread STRICKLY dedicated to teendrivers that are driving reckless and posting license plates - no comment and banter for a parent to read through 50 pages worth - just simply a vehicle description, the offense and the license plate.

Or maybe someone could create a website for this for parents to peruse that had an age limit so mean spirited peers couldn't purposely lie about incidents. I'm not a parent, but if I was, I would be very interested in my teen's driving habits and feel a little better knowing that the southern maryland community were helping to look after one and anothers own. Even if is good feedback. Just an idea... probably another but thought I'd throw it out there as this unfortunate accident may have been avoided in some, although slight possible way. :shrug: Also if I had a kid, I could look up the feedback for the license plate before letting my child ride with others that have commented on the vehicle and driver :shrug: It's just all too sad and too many young people passing away from car accidents. Just throwing it out there.

Charles County's considering not letting students drive to school functions all together, since they cannot get sufficent funding to teach Driver's Ed at the school (which wouldn't matter).

I was there when one of the kids' mother got the call that her kid was critically injured in the accident, and I could not describe what happened. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, in this case it would be a million. I must say, seeing her reaction, that is something that will stick with me for a long time. I just cannot even begin to put it in words. I'm not sure that any great author could. No video, news report or editorial could capture the raw emotion of that moment.

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

I was thinking this too. Perhaps she will be the one to address this recent rash of teen deaths on the roads and her story will really "get" to these kids.
Something needs to be done.

I lost my boyfriend years ago in a wreck like this...and the driver was never right in the head again.....drugs, booze to forget ...never worked...no idea what happened to her....

So very sad.....

I've seen too many fatal teen crashes. I saw the immediate aftermath of an accident that killed a high school graduate on Graduation Day in 2004.

Waldorf is big by the numbers, but man is it a small world.

 

[SpriteZero]

I am a new transplant to MD...
So forgive me if this seems like a stupid question..
But...
Arn't kids required to have drivers ed to get a licence?

 

[ItalianScallion]

I was thinking this too. Perhaps she will be the one to address this recent rash of teen deaths on the roads and her story will really "get" to these kids.
Something needs to be done.
I lost my boyfriend years ago in a wreck like this...and the driver was never right in the head again.....drugs, booze to forget ...never worked...no idea what happened to her....

Sorry to hear about your loss also. I am going to take the time to talk to the kids Friday night about these accidents. I usually get up in front of the group 2-3 times a year but I haven't done it at all in 2007 because we're sooo shorthanded right now. I'm going to watch the news now to see what I can find out. TTY'all later. Thanks for the sentiments.

 

[dems4me]

I agree...we, as drivers of the same road do need to be more attentive to this kids and not be afraid to report reckless behavior.
Otherwise, how will the parents know what the kids are doing in the cars?

There does need to be a way to stop the traffic deaths....

I agree. I as a southern maryland citizen will pay attention to the various drivers and try to see if they are teenagers or not when passing me flying at 70 and giving me the bird in a 40mph zone, etc... but also a parent may want to see if there's been good driving behavior such as obeying speed limits, letting others in front of them in traffic, etc... I think good also needs to be displayed. If I was a parent and I had a teenager with a new car, I'd be monitoring this forum religiously and hopefully proud citizens of southern maryland would step up and do their part and try to notice the teen drivers and note how they are driving. It would almost be like 20,000 cops or something on the road reporting. This has GOT TO STOP. I don't have kids, but my Gosh enough is enough, these kids are WAY too young, 10 deaths in ONE month so far? That's 10 too many. Not that this would help much, but in a slim hope it may -- I throw it out there.

 

[dmh]

I live in very close proximity and I do ALOT of driving and I've never had an encounter with the driver or the vehicle, if someone is tailgating me which happens frequently on these stretches, I don't recall that vehicle being one of them.

But it did get me to thinking if maybe we could create a thread STRICKLY dedicated to teendrivers that are driving reckless and posting license plates - no comment and banter for a parent to read through 50 pages worth - just simply a vehicle description, the offense and the license plate.

Or maybe someone could create a website for this for parents to peruse that had an age limit so mean spirited peers couldn't purposely lie about incidents. I'm not a parent, but if I was, I would be very interested in my teen's driving habits and feel a little better knowing that the southern maryland community were helping to look after one and anothers own. Even if is good feedback. Just an idea... probably another but thought I'd throw it out there as this unfortunate accident may have been avoided in some, although slight possible way. :shrug: Also if I had a kid, I could look up the feedback for the license plate before letting my child ride with others that have commented on the vehicle and driver :shrug: It's just all too sad and too many young people passing away from car accidents. Just throwing it out there.

Hi Dems, you and I live really close to each other -- remember we were talking about the puppy at IGA and your knees and how they got wet and so on and the german sheppard that was hit in front of my neighborhood. Anyway, I recall this car very well, only because I usually dont let people annoy me to the point of pulling over, because as you said, yes it happens quite a bit on these back roads and if I pulled over each and every time I was tailgated, I would never get to where I had to go. But this particular car was so close to me from the all the way from dog patch, she couldnt pass me at the school (cars coming opposite direction), and I was kind of annoyed at her for being so close to my bumper it was kind of a mind over matter issue, most tailgaters realize that when they arent going to win, they have a tendency to back off just a bit, espcially on popular hill (not too many places to pass at) and I thought she would have done the same (back off), but she stuck behind me so much (I probably could have told you if she had any food in her teeth), that sy St. Peters I couldnt take it anymore, so I just went over to the right, and let her go. I just kept praying the whole time that a deer didnt run out in front of me, becuse I would have gotten it from both ends, the deer in the front and her in the back. I could have just let her stay behind me all the way to mattawoman, since it was only a minute more down the road but, I couldnt trust myself not to have road rage and confront her had she been behind me at the light.

When I got to the light, she was no where to be found. Her car was very very hard to miss and forget. I cant say I thought about her too much since she tailgated me, but as soon as I saw the car today, I remembered without any hesitation.

I feel so sorry for the family of all three kids involved.

 

[SpriteZero]

What about the insurance companies?
If they have to cover a kid and a car..cant there be a way to require an installition of some kind of monitoring device? Kinda like ON STAR?

Someone out there has the smarts to make one and make it mandatory for the cars to have them IF parents want to allow their kids to drive?

Insurance people dont like spending money..they like to make it and keep it...
Maybe that may work....ya think?a

I mean courts put those locks on DWI cars that drives have to blow in before they drive? ( they still do that ..right?)

Time for bed...and more prayers for yet another child that should be home texting, PMing on the PC, yacking on the cell phone and dreaming of all the cloths she will get for Christmas.......

 

[dems4me]

What about the insurance companies?
If they have to cover a kid and a car..cant there be a way to require an installition of some kind of monitoring device? Kinda like ON STAR?

Someone out there has the smarts to make one and make it mandatory for the cars to have them IF parents want to allow their kids to drive?

Insurance people dont like spending money..they like to make it and keep it...
Maybe that may work....ya think?a

I mean courts put those locks on DWI cars that drives have to blow in before they drive? ( they still do that ..right?)

Time for bed...and more prayers for yet another child that should be home texting, PMing on the PC, yacking on the cell phone and dreaming of all the cloths she will get for Christmas.......

I think one of those investigative reporting shows like 20/20 or something did something similar... they put in a camera in their kids cars without telling them and basically most the parents were very surprised at their kids lack of paying attention to the road with friends in the car.

Personally, I'm against raising the driving age or changing the laws... look how many teenagers ARE being responsible, I don't think everyone should be punished based on a minor percent of the teenager drivers. Teenagers mature at different levels :shrug: But still 10 is too many. Just don't know what else to suggest. Its frustrating, and heck, I don't even have kids. :shrug:

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

I am a new transplant to MD...
So forgive me if this seems like a stupid question..
But...
Arn't kids required to have drivers ed to get a licence?

Yes.

 

[SpriteZero]

Yes.

Thanks Andy...!

 

[Jbeckman]

Teens

I would greatly support a thread directed to young drivers and parents. There are many young drivers, many who are more mature than others, but behind the wheel they are the most inexperienced and most immature. Of all the crashes in St. Mary's County, 33% are young driver related. The young drivers are at fault 87% of the time...and they only represent 7.5% of the population. Most young driver crashes don't make the news, but there are MANY. When someone dies in a crash is it newsworthy. Otherwise is it just commonplace.

Insurance companies need to step in and let parents know they WILL NOT cover costs if the license rules are not followed...this would make the adults more diligent in directing the rules to their young drivers.

I have a young driver (had 3 others who are now over 20 years of age). None had a crash with passengers (except one who backed out of our driveway into the neighbors car parked across the street) with passengers. But even without passengers one had 2 crashes , another 3 crashes, and other 4 crashes totalling one car. 2 of my children are step-children and as the stepmom my rules didn't always apply per parents.

I guess I can be or have become overprotective...I will get to the school to see how my son arrives (with or without passengers...so far so good), call where he is going to check to see if he is there...cell phone calls don't count, can't confirm location. Even go to school to routinely check attendance and match it to legal absences.

Maybe all of this is too much but I don't believe in "this is my business, mind your own". I drive on the road with everyone...as do these young people. I ask my neighbors and friends to let me know what the see or hear.

TMI...but think about it...

In 5 years (my stepson is in Iraq-2nd tour) just over 4000 killed; just over 3000 killed on 9-11; plane with 300 falls from sky...all are terrible losses and incidents. But over 43,000 people die every year in the US alone in motor vehicle crashes. Just about 7000 are young drivers. I guess we just keeping throwiing money at the war, keep concentrating on 9-11, just keep throwing money to the airplanes...but in comparison to the number of people affected very little money is addressing this issue.

 

[mAlice]

Of all the crashes in St. Mary's County, 33% are young driver related. The young drivers are at fault 87% of the time...and they only represent 7.5% of the population. Most young driver crashes don't make the news, but there are MANY. When someone dies in a crash is it newsworthy. Otherwise is it just commonplace.

Vrai and I were discussing this last night. Where do you get your stats from?