dplotkin

I'm with you there, and perhaps I was insensitive. But its my 22 year old son & 21 year old daughter sharing the road with a guy like that I had in mind when I wrote what I did.


Dan

Railroadman

Agreed. Altho I always wore a seat belt, there were a couple times when I was the dumbass. I usually let someone else drive (there was a girl about 19 I worked with and dated a few times, who dropped me off and took my 67 BB home for the night. She was big stuff cruising in her small town the next morning). But fortunately nothing bad happened the few times I drove when I should not have.

I suppose it is also possible the guy had some beer or booze in the car for later consumption, something happened like the knockoff coming loose, and the ensuing wreck smashed up the hooch and made the car smell like a barroom. So I'll suspend my previous condemnation until all facts are in.

ricks327

The news report stated that State Police investigated an accident at 6:45AM. Did the accident happen around that time or it was not discovered until that time and occurred hours earlier? Was the driver an alcoholic who started his day with alcohol or was it an earlier accident where he was drunk and the accident was not discovered until daylight? Toxicology report will determine if alcohol and/or how much was a factor.
No seat belt use was stupid on the part of a 66 year old driver.

vettebuyer6369

Impossible to say at this point, but I wonder if it was intentional?

Deserted road, alcohol, speed , no seat belt. Who knows? There could have been circumstances we don’t know about.

smacota1

Dan,

Not insensitive at all......and our family was lucky the only victim was my son and no one else. Happened Thanksgiving morning 2006. He was less than 1/2 mile from home after driving 30 miles. Relive it every TG hoilday. Worse words I ever heard from his friend's mother was we "assumed" he was staying the night.

tuxnharley

A long time ago my buddy rolled (3 times) and flipped (twice) his 65 convertible 500 feet + down a steep hill. He was wearing his seatbelt and amazingly the windshield frame held and protected him. He walked away! The worst thing he got was a bad case of poison oak from crawling back up the hill- and a lot of bruises and soreness the next day.

The body on that beautiful yellow/black 65 365 hp convertible was totally shredded and destroyed. Not a single panel was left intact. The rest was sold for parts.

We are still buds today 45 years later thanks to that seatbelt!

Frankie the Fink

A friend back in the 60s rolled his white 65 fastback Mustang on an "across the border" beer run from Virginia to North Carolina (NC was 18 drinking age back then, VA was 21)... He was 'tasting the goods' on the way back and rolled the car. Walked away drunk and unharmed. Next weekend on the way to Jockey Ridge, dang if we didn't pass a tow truck hauling his car back to VA....

Lucky, lucky kid...

MOXIE62

One less drunk. It's the unfortunate family that will have to live with it.

66racer

Really sad news to loose A fellow corvette owner.
I travel that road 6-8 times A year on way to Summer place at Ange lFire.
It is A good open road and not much traffic, good place to air out your corvette,probaly just too fast and lost control,reguards to the family 66racer

juanvaldez

Too bad about the car.

vettepoor

woodsdesign

Somebody must have saw it. How did they know he went across center and over corrected.
Sad all the way around.

cv67

Easy Rhino

True.

Experience is the teacher of fools.

Cicero, IIRC.

The wise man learn from other's mistakes.

Easy Rhino

That is heart-breaking. So sorry to hear these things, and I agree with your sentiment about the contributing family's abdication of their responsibilities.

This. I am so thankful that I did not harm anyone else in my young and stupid years.

As have many. One of best friends from college has been a quadriplegic now for decades, compliments of a drunk driver.

Also, this.

Lots of people I know and care about are out there on the roads, at risk for all the idiot drivers, including the drunks, distracted texters, unlicensed, uninsured, insane, etc.

Since a two ton for wheeled projectile is a deadly weapon to the tune of around 35,000-40,000 deaths a year (far more than guns, thank you very much), I find little sympathy for idiot drivers, and offer them no defense.

warrenmj

Not really necessary that someone needed to see what happened. Direction could be determined by skid marks on the pavement, but more likely just the tires gouging thru the dirt/grass/weeds would easily give the direction the car was travelling.

KC John

After reading some of the responses on this matter I now understand how a jury can let someone off the hook if they don't have the crime on video.

MikeM

..

valrico_stingray

Is that photo a movie scene?

GTOguy

Not enough evidence to draw a clear-cut conclusion, IMO. Sad situation all around.