A tragedy that could have been prevented...
Greetings, once again, from Montreal. This morning we got the sad news about our friend Adam. Adam is around nine. Last Tuesday, he and his mother were on an organized motorcycle ride when their bike was hit by a Nissan 350Z driven by a 16-year-old. Adam was hurt and his mother was killed. We didn't get all the details, but from what we understand, the young driver wasn't drunk and he wasn't speeding. He simply lost control in the rain.
One could spend all day placing blame for this accident, and that isn't my intention -- but I feel that some of the responsibility lies with the parents who let their inexperienced young driver out on the streets in a 300 horsepower high-performance rear-wheel-drive sports car. What were they thinking? That just has "bad idea" written all over it. The 350Z is a handful in the rain, even for an experienced driver. For a 16-year-old, it's a disaster waiting to happen. More than 8 out of 10 teen accidents are due to driver error. The driver's parents are lucky; had their son hit something bigger, there's a good chance he'd have been one of the 3,600 teen drivers killed in America each year.
Back home in Southern California, there's a program about which I wrote an article called Fast Lane Teen Academy. It's designed for young drivers, and the skills it teaches could have prevented this tragedy. There are plenty of other driving safety courses around the country, and I'll be covering more of them in the next few months. -- Aaron Gold
Comments
This story is VERY familiar! Years ago my youngest son got his driver’s license and the following Saturday wanted to use our Chev rear wheel drive Monte Carlo. We let him. Shortly afterwards he burst through the rear door shouting”I’ll never drive again!” Tossing down the keys he ran upstairs to his room. My older sons followed him up asking where is the car. To make the story short he was coming home and stopped at a stop sign. He gave it too much gas pedal and, in the rain, the rear end came around and he buried the car in the bushes! He learned his lesson but it could have been worse! Today he is a good driver!
While you state that you don’t intend to place blame, you nail the parents of this young driver. Accidents are just that but I would question the wisdom of a mother taking her 9 year-old on a motercycle ride in the rain. Percapita, motercycles are safer than cars I’ve heard but when there is an accident, the passengers are very exposed.
Sorry for Adam. It’s definitely not his fault.
But to be brutally honest, what mother in her right mind would take her 9 year-old on a motorcycle in any weather, much less in rain? Organized or not, I can’t think of very many more dangerous activities.
that sucks, i wonder how the car was…
I agree with both sides to this story. I see many teenage drivers driving recklessly & in vehicles they know nothing about. I also agree that the mother shouldn’t have had this little boy with her on a motorcycle in the rain. Both sides have some fault, but the heart breaking part of this whole story is that no one will learn from it & you’ll be reading the same story down the road.
“from what we understand, the young driver wasn’t drunk and he wasn’t speeding. He simply lost control in the rain”
Tradgedy happens. Adam, don’t spend the rest of your life trying to find someone to blame. Let this heal over and allow the memories of your mom bring you nothing but joy.
I agree with some of your comment about letting inexperienced drivers out on the streets with 300 hp cars. Parents aren’t fully to blame as many of them haven’t got a clue what horsepower is or why rear wheel drive reacts differently than front/all wheel drive. Our failing to properly train drivers for the possibility of non-perfect conditions is at the heart of it. Driver’s Ed doesn’t include a moment’s time controlling a skidding car, but it should. Heck, video games even allow for those situations!
Another angle to consider is the 350Z itself. This is not only a high powered sports car, but one that has a reputation for prematurely wearing out the front tires; leaving it vulnerable to suspect handling in low-traction situations.
My most sincere condolences go out to the family that lost a Mother in the accident. My assertions that Driver’s Ed contributed/cased the problem won’t ease that pain at all.
Additionally, I hope that the driver of the 350Z comes to accept what happened and takes EVERY step available to insure it isn’t repeated…..ever.
~Maek
this is sad. something similar happened to my cousin. she was coming home from the doctor and it was rainig outside. she lost control of her car and went nto the other lane. when she drifted a desil was coming and hit her head on. she died on impact.