7 siblings killed in Florida accident

[Resolute 14]

Their (adopted) grandfather also died after suffering a heart attack upon hearing the news that the children were killed by a guy carelessly driving his tractor-trailer.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/26/bus.crash/index.html

This is the part that bugs me most:

Wilkerson was cited in 2000 and 2001 for operating a vehicle in unsafe conditions and also for driving on a suspended or revoked license in 2000.

What the hell was this guy still doing on the road?

[Eagle Eye]

And also why was a 15 year old driving the car?

[BlackArcher101]

Operating in unsafe conditions isn't too big of a deal. You can get them simply by going 5 under the speed limit if it's bad weather. If I saw a few DUI's on there, then sure. Or previous accidents. But he shouldn't have been kicked off the road for what he had there.

Who knows what happened. Story doesn't say much... truck hit car, which in turn hit bus. Were they all in the same lane? Did the car suddenly brake, not giving any time for the truck driver? Or did the truck driver simply doze off (happens quite a bit).

Tragic accident whichever way you look at it. Family crushed and in tears, and a truck driver feeling reaaallly guilty at this moment.

[HOZ]

That's awful.

[Displaced Flames fan]

We've had a few similar fatal accidents around here the last couple of years. Truck drivers fall asleep and plow into cars at highway speed. Devastating.

Yeah, the driver was 15, makes no difference though. The 15 year old was not at fault.

Very sad.

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Yeah, the driver was 15, makes no difference though. The 15 year old was not at fault.

Very sad.

Very sad indeed, but a 15 year old with only a learners permit... shouldn't be driving in that case as it is illegal without an adult present. How in the hell did that happen? Let alone with that many youngsters in the vehicle? I am distracted with that many young ones, and I am a very seasoned driver.

Horrible, horrible situation, but it sure sounds like one that should never have taken place to begin with....

[Resolute 14]

Even the police said that the only thing an adult in the car would have changed is that there would be eight bodies instead of seven. Yes, the 15 year old should not have been driving without an adult supervisor, but that had no bearing at all on the accident.

The fault lies with the truck driver. Everone in that article makes that very clear.

[GrinderMac]

How very sad and tragic. I agree nothing really flagrant about the truck drivers driving record. The young underaged driver obviously was too young, by law, to be at the wheel without an adult present. With that said I don't think her parents, if they did in fact give her permission to drive, should be held accountable under the law. The whole family has paid enough.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

Even the police said that the only thing an adult in the car would have changed is that there would be eight bodies instead of seven. Yes, the 15 year old should not have been driving without an adult supervisor, but that had no bearing at all on the accident.

The fault lies with the truck driver. Everone in that article makes that very clear.

Well not quite.. But regardless bad stuff all around

Cynthia Mann's aunt said the girl had just dropped off another child and was taking the rest of the children home "to get ready to go to church."
"It's my understanding she did not cause the accident," Tina Mann said of her niece. "The same thing would have happened had there been an adult in the car with her. We'd just have one more death in the family."

[Resolute 14]

You're right, I misremembered who made the quotes. However, the police did say that the 15 year old driving was "irrelevent" to the cause of the crash.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Who knows what happened. Story doesn't say much... truck hit car, which in turn hit bus. Were they all in the same lane? Did the car suddenly brake, not giving any time for the truck driver? Or did the truck driver simply doze off (happens quite a bit).

From what I read, the car was behind the bus. The bus stops to let kids off, and with the school bus lights flashing the car stopped as they were supposed to. Truck driver wasn't paying attention and bamo!

Because in the States there are a lot of rural residential areas, it isn't that uncommon to see a school bus stopped on a highway dropping off kids. One time coming back from Spokane we had to keep stopping for the school bus on the highway.

[StoneCole]

It looks to me like the police just kind of showed up and said the fact that she was 15 had nothing to do with it...I'm not sure, but if this is the case (ie. the police made this claim without further investigation), I might suggest that the 15 year old driver may have had something to do with the accident through their sporadic driving.

I'm not saying for sure that the 15 year old is a bad driver or that it wasn't the other guy's fault, jus that the other guy may be getting portrayed as the villain when really it wasn't as much his fault as we have been led to believe.

[jam26]

Difficult to lay blame, but if I stop for a school bus I'm watching the tractor-trailer in the mirror and if it's not slowing down, I'm outta there - in the ditch or wherever.
Of course, a tractor-trailer ramming into the back of a school bus could have been even more catastrophic.