This was originally thought to be a Corvette was as it turned out it was a Z28. Either way this type of stuff just shouldn't happen. I hope the courts make an example of these people. I like my car and do engage is little 0-40 stoplight skermishes, but to be doing 100 miles per hour on this road is totally un called for.

May 15, 2002
Two Oakland County teens accused of driving faster than 100 mph while racing down Orchard Lake Road were charged with manslaughter in the traffic death of a older couple.
The two, a 16-year-old from Farmington Hills and an 18-year-old from West Bloomfield Township, were named in warrants issued Tuesday by Oakland County prosecutors.

Gerald Gorzeck, 76, and his wife, Barbara, 68, were killed April 19 when their car was struck by a Camaro Z-28 being driven by the 16-year-old boy, Assistant Prosecutor James Halushka said Tuesday.


The couple was turning into a private drive from Orchard Lake Road south of 14 Mile Road in Farmington Hills when their Cadillac was struck about 11:30 p.m.


Halushka said police have determined the teen's car was traveling 101 mph shortly before impact. The speed limit in the area is 45 mph.


The second driver, who was also driving a Camaro Z-28, was not involved in the crash but was charged with manslaughter. He is believed to have been driving about as fast as the first driver, Halushka said.


Halushka said a recent Court of Appeals ruling concluded that both drivers involved in a race where a fatality occurs can be charged with a crime.


It was not clear when either driver would be arraigned. The 16-year-old boy is also charged with felonious driving because a passenger in his car - his cousin - suffered a broken leg in the accident.

 

:( That is very sad. Teens don't think that things like that can happen.
Just a couple of weeks ago, my cousin (16 years old) and I were doing about the same in his '81 Corvette. :nono: He was running about 100 in a 35/45 mph road, that is not traveled very often. He wasn't racing anyone though. We didn't think about being in any danger, we were just having fun. We weren't in an accident, unlike the Z-28 drivers. It's a very sad story, for both the ederly couple, and the teens.


[Modified by corvettemaster, 11:20 AM 5/15/2002]

 

Hang the punks.

 

Similar story in AZ - 2 teens doing 100+ on a heavily traveled main road when an elderly driver pulled out. The teens were made example of.......

 

Come on now. Im sure that you have done 100+ on a public road. They just happened to be caught.

They are young, they weren't thinking of the results of their actions. That is why they have a law that under 18 and different rules apply than if your 18+. When your young you don't think about things like that. Thats all there is too it.

I agree that it was wrong, and that they should be punished. But I am also saying that these cars that we all love and enjoy are "race cars". They are fun to drive fast but extremely dangerous, espically in the hands of a 16yr old driver. :nono:

 

Reminds me of the story here in Florida just before Christmas. Teenager was racing in his Mustang, struck a car and killed both occupants. One occupant was his mother and the other an elderly neighbor. They were out looking at Christmas lights.

Flood: I've done it on a limited access highway when the road was clear. Don't get me wrong, I agree that the forum can get a little self-righteous sometimes, but I can't believe you can have any other response. They need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Yes they have different laws for under 18, and that is why so many kids start off bad and keep going. They do something, get their wrist slapped, turned back on the streets and think, "Hey, that wasn't so bad". If kids want to be treated as adults, they need to take responsibilty like adults. If I drove like that and killed somebody, you better believe that I would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and you'd be in line cheering them on. Being stupid or not thinking is no excuse. :bs


[Modified by 79MakoL82, 1:08 PM 5/15/2002]

 

For those that don't know. Orchard Lake Road is five lanes wide (center turn lane) and had houses, subdivisions and strip malls on either side of it. It is not a place to exceed even 55 miles per hour. The thought of going 100+ down that road is just unbelievable.

I have run as fast as 140mph on public roads, but we are talking remote stretches of highway where the only person I can hurt is myself.

 

Very well said. :yesnod:

 

Well I'll be sad to admit, when I was a teenager. Me and a few buddies use to race home from work in town (although it was like 2 AM) at 100+. We were idiots for doing it, and very lucky nothing like this ever happened. I got caught once doing 90+ (in a 35) and got a reckless driving ticket and no license for a while at age 17...and that cured me real quick..luckily that's all it took.

That being said, I rarely ever go that fast now (if I do its way out in the middle of nowhere or save it for the track), and wouldn't want to. But when you're a teen and you've dreamed of owning a cool car since you were a young boy...it was easy to get caught up speeding. Unfortunatley this is a very sad story for the boys and the poor innocent victims...very hard lesson to learn and they probably won't ever even want a fast car again now. Just sad, but I won't say "Good these punks get what they deserve". Very sad for the families involved.

 

I agree they did somthing very foolish in apopulated area and took two lives I feel sorry for them that they have to learn this way and screw up there lives at 16 but at least they lived and hopefully will lean.

 

Just had a couple 17 year old ricers arrested for racing here in town last night, 2 of them at over 100mph in a 40-45 zone and one crashed, not sure if there were any fatalities. While I have done stupid things before I have done them out in the boonies where there were no people around. If these punks had killed a family member of mine I can assure you the last thing they need to worry about is going to court......that will be what I am worried about. Hang the little bastiches.

 

I could of stopped this before it started , why put your 16 year old in a Z28 , I'm thinking about a used "stock" civic.

 

It wouldnt make any diffrence what car a kid is driving hes gonna test its limits and wether his parent bought it or the kid did doesnt matter we have all at one time or another have pushed our cars hard most of us are fortunate to have gottin away with it but a very few are not.

 

I'd like to see you tell this to the families of those lost. I don't think they would trivialize it as "foolish". Like I said, yeah, I've tested the limits of my car on limited access roads with nobody else around. However, I've NEVER tested my cars limits on a road with side streets and businesses and other cars. I had more sense than that and if I had killed somebody, rest assured I would have been prosecuted. Why do we need to keep lowering the bar for these little bastards that have NO respect for life or other peoples property? The more we lower the bar, the lower the standards and the less respect they have for others. Right now we have a kid in Florida who lives just up the street who beat a mans two Lama's with a golf club just for the hell of it, poking ones eye out and killing the other. While he was out on parole he proceeded to shoot a farmers cattle with a bow and arrow and he's done it before. To top it off, he's had a history of this kind of behavior but they kept slapping his wrist and sending him out.

No, sorry but I say prosecute them as adults to the fullest extent. And I have no sympathy for them.



[Modified by 79MakoL82, 5:09 PM 5/15/2002]

 

A similar thing happened here a few years ago only it was a real small town and the kids were racing down main street on prom night when they hit and killed three of their classmates.

I say punish them as adults. These kids need to be made examples of. I have never participated in such activity, and never will, with the exception of someday taking the vette out on a roadcourse for fun. There are tracks for this kind of thing, it doesn't belong on the street, and other people need to see that by punishing these kids. I also agree that a young kid shouldn't be given something like a Camaro to drive. Give them a car that when they test the limits of it, the limit is not so extreme.

I have been thinking that when my kids are of driving age, if they show adequate responsibility, I wouldn't be against them trying their hand at a roadcourse or dragstrip with the use of appropriate safety equipment. But, like I said, save it for the track. I have NO tolerance for racing on the street.