7 year old killed by Millarville - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

redforever · 02-24-2009, 03:38 PM

So very tragic. The child was waiting to board the school bus. The school bus was stopped, waiting to pick up 3 children, red lights flashing. A car passed the bus, struck the child and the child died at the scene.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Child+k...354/story.html

Locke · 02-24-2009, 03:40 PM

The town killed him?

Locke · 02-24-2009, 03:41 PM

That...sucks...just one bad mistake, not stopping for a rural school bus w/ lights flashing....hes gonna regret that one forever.

Yeah_Baby · 02-24-2009, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

The town killed him?

Sigh, I would give you a 'type' lashing if I wasn't so horribly amused by this post.

And to your other point, its incredibly sad how many people die as a result of bad decisions.

Rerun · 02-24-2009, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redforever

So very tragic. The child was waiting to board the school bus. The school bus was stopped, waiting to pick up 3 children, red lights flashing. A car passed the bus, struck the child and the child died at the scene.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Child+k...354/story.html

Well that really depressed me. So sad. A real unnecessary tragedy. I feel terrible and my condolences to the child's parents and the rest of his family.
Stupid 17 year old driver.

Dion · 02-24-2009, 03:45 PM

A terrible tragedy!

Hope they throw the book at the driver! How the hell could one miss the flashing lights and all?

My heart goes out to family of this young boy.

Locke · 02-24-2009, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

A terrible tragedy!

Hope they throw the book at the driver! How the hell could one miss the flashing lights and all?

My heart goes out to family of this young boy.

Really? Come on. Its a tragedy that resulted from poorly executed judgment, is ruining 2 lives going to make it any less tragic?

The kid's going to get punished, but I dont think excessive punishment is warranted. Theres no malice here, just misfortune.

Nufy · 02-24-2009, 03:50 PM

A good friend of mine lives out that way...

I hope to hell it wasn't one of his boys......

Dion · 02-24-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Really? Come on. Its a tragedy that resulted from poorly executed judgment, is ruining 2 lives going to make it any less tragic?

The kid's going to get punished, but I dont think excessive punishment is warranted. Theres no malice here, just misfortune.

Clearly drivers aren't getting the message these days as witnessed by this tragedy. The court system is far too leniant on cases like this. I'd have no problems taking away that drivers license for life. Driving in not a right but a priviledge.

Yeah_Baby · 02-24-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

Clearly drivers aren't getting the message these days as witnessed by this tragedy. The court system is far too leniant on cases like this. I'd have no problems taking away that drivers license for life. Driving in not a right but a priviledge.

Yeah, but unless the kid is a TOTAL ######, he's probably beating himself up way more the justice system ever could.

Yeah_Baby · 02-24-2009, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

But if he was a total ###### he would pretend to be tearing himself up to avoid punishment, so thats why tearing himself up isn't quite enough. He will get his punishment from the law as it sees fit and it will probably be about right.

Also how do we know it was "just a mistake"? He could have been passing school buses illegally for a year or two.

and I'm usually not the Law and Order guy around here. Maybe two minutes after the death is not enough time to tell the driver "tough luck on that one, hope ya learned your lesson".

That is true as well fotze. And normally I am more of the Law and Order type myself. Guess I was just thinking of myself, if I had done that at 17. I would be haunted till the day I died if I killed someone. And my tears would be sincere. But then again I am a pretty emotional guy.

Dion · 02-24-2009, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Yeah, but unless the kid is a TOTAL ######, he's probably beating himself up way more the justice system ever could.

What kind of message do we send to other drivers if we give this guy a slap on wrist?

We need to get drivers to seriously think before they get behind the wheel and to pay more attention while driving.

Yeah_Baby · 02-24-2009, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

What kind of message do we send to other drivers if we give this guy a slap on wrist?

We need to get drivers to seriously think before they get behind the wheel and to pay more attention while driving.

I might get crucified for this, but along with that is educating your children to look both ways before crossing the street. No disrespect intended, and I agree with you in principle. Just trying to show the other side as well.

Russic · 02-24-2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

What kind of message do we send to other drivers if we give this guy a slap on wrist?

We need to get drivers to seriously think before they get behind the wheel and to pay more attention while driving.

I'm not arguing with you but asking the question sincerely: Do you think it would make a difference? Not wanting to kill somebody's child is more than enough incentive for me to drive within the rules of the road. Personally I don't think I'd drive any more cautiously if the jail times were increased. As others have said, this guy already has a lifetime to know he killed a kid ... jail isn't going to make him regret it any more.

I'm not arguing that he should be punished lightly, but rather that he should be given the standard punishment for this crime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

I might get crucified for this, but along with that is educating your children to look both ways before crossing the street. No disrespect intended, and I agree with you in principle. Just trying to show the other side as well.

It is a touch harsh but you do have a point here. Whenever a pedestrian crosses a road (even at a crosswalk) there is a responsibility on their shoulders as well. Of course that's a lot harder to say when you're talking about a 7 year old kid, but it still applies.

Yeah_Baby · 02-24-2009, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

There is the don't passs buses rule because kids that age can be scatterbrained. There are other details that we may find out that will change things. If buddy passed the bus going 120 kph on a gravel road, then he deserves a kick in the face and a book thrown at him, if he at least slowed to 30 or something and still couldn't stop, then that shows to me that he wasn't absolutely reckless and a total jerk.

Your right. I guess while I chose to be blunt it was somewhat uncalled for, which I will and should take heat for. However the way some parents raise their kids and the things they let them do drive me up the wall. I was recently stuck in an airport, and on vacation and both places are saw horrid examples of child rearing. Obviously the driver is at fault. I'm just saying it is a good reminder to teach and remind your own kids about the reckless jerks out there.

FlamesKickAss · 02-24-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

There is the don't passs buses rule because kids that age can be scatterbrained. There are other details that we may find out that will change things. If buddy passed the bus going 120 kph on a gravel road, then he deserves a kick in the face and a book thrown at him, if he at least slowed to 30 or something and still couldn't stop, then that shows to me that he wasn't absolutely reckless and a total jerk.

exactly, maybe he was driving to fast for conditions and couldnt stop and rather that rear end the bus he sweved, until more details come out I think maybe we should wait to pass judgement. If he was just bombing down a old country road and saw the pass and passed then throw the book and the table at him

Dion · 02-24-2009, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

I'm not arguing with you but asking the question sincerely: Do you think it would make a difference? Not wanting to kill somebody's child is more than enough incentive for me to drive within the rules of the road. Personally I don't think I'd drive any more cautiously if the jail times were increased. As others have said, this guy already has a lifetime to know he killed a kid ... jail isn't going to make him regret it any more.

I'm not arguing that he should be punished lightly, but rather that he should be given the standard punishment for this crime.

I think it would make a difference. Think about all the drivers who leave the bar and get behind the wheel knowing they're maybe over the limit but the chances of getting caught are minimal. Would they take that risk if they knew a conviction meant the loss of thier license forever? I'm wiling to bet a lot less would get behind the wheel.

Not wanting to kill someone should be incentive enough but judging what we see in the news these days i don't think a lot of drivers are getting the message. You've got that guy in the cement truck wiping out a family.

For sure that driver is going to suffer for the rest of his life. My line of thinking is towards preventing other drivers from doing similar things. Make the punishment a big enough deterent that drivers will take more care when thy're behind the wheel.

4X4 · 02-24-2009, 05:55 PM

The article says the guy was going 90. I'm going to go out on a limb and just call him an idiot. You see a f'n school bus stopped on a rural road you slow the hell down. Period. I drive rural roads often enough to know that going 100 is kinda the upper limit. I don't care what you're driving. Add snow to the mix and there's no way 90 is a safe speed to go, even without busses pulled over on the side.
Terrible tragedy. My condolences to the family. And just so sad that a bunch of the kids' classmates witnessed it. There's a whole lot of trauma here.

metallicat · 02-24-2009, 05:57 PM

School buses don't use their flashing lights and stop sign nearly enough...in fact, in the city, I don't think I've ever seen them used. Why not? I don't speed past school buses anyway, but they should be using all the safety precautions afforded to them in order to keep kids safe.

4X4 · 02-24-2009, 06:08 PM

After thinking about it a bit, I do have some sympathy for the driver. It's easy for a guy like me to say that he should have known to slow down, but the reason I'm so cautious in certain situations like passing big, stopped vehicles is because I've had more than one heart attack while passing a stopped vehicle and then a person comes around from the front of the vehicle to get into the driver seat. That happens to everyone and it's part of gaining experience. Now my brain doesn't even think about it. I just automatically slow down and move as far left as is reasonable safe and possible.
The thing that really scared out of driving like a teenage idiot and into driving like a competent adult was the time I almost creamed someone in a crosswalk.
A 5 ton truck was signalling left and stopped on a two lane each direction road. There was a parking lot right there and I just assumed that he was stopped because there was some traffic flow oncoming. The truck was blocking my view of a pedestrian with a baby carriage crossing the street. Lucky for her (and me) she was super cautious and peeked her head around the front of the truck to see if any one was coming up in the right lane. I think I was about 20 when that happened. Tell you what, that scared me right out of driving like a maniac. I thanked my lucky stars every day for weeks. I couldn't stop thinking about how f'd up my life would be if I hit and killed a mother and baby.
Too bad for this kid. Learned the hard way.