Tragic Accident Claims Life Of Teen

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by RT14

Totally agree. Looking back at all the stupid crap I did as a young driver, I should've been dead at least 5 times before I reached 20. Small miracle this doesn't happen more often.

Thoughts go out to all loved ones in this situation.

I'm sure most people coming out of rural high schools in Alberta in the last 80 years or so know of this happening to someone in their class.

My mother was pregnant with myself when her brother was driving and a resulting collision at a gravel, rural interection killed her also-pregnant-sister. They were all teenagers at the time. So . . . . I lived and the other child did not.

Some of my high school classmates also bit the dust in a similar way.

I guess it's a Darwin thing.

Cowperson

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Growing up with having to buckle up, I can honestly say I feel very unconfortable without a seatbelt on. Even driving a block from my mailbox to my house feels weird if I don't buckle up. I don't know how people drive without one. Taking even a small turn without a seatbelt makes me feel like I'm sliding to one side.

Fully agree. Even if I'm pulling out of my garage to park my car in the alley, I instinctively go to put the seatbelt on. I'll be the first to admit that it is completely unnecessary, but I kind of like knowing that I don't have to think about it - it is automatic.

Getting chucked out of a car these days is, barring a failure of the seatbelt itself, is completely preventable. You can't protect yourself from all risks on the road, but a seatbelt sure helps your chances of walking away (or at least not dying) from some types of collisions.

But, we all have errors in judgment, especially when we're younger. Most of the time we are able to live through it and shake our heads at some of the things we used to do.

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

I lived and the other child did not.

Some of my high school classmates also bit the dust in a similar way.

I guess it's a Darwin thing.

Cowperson

I think luck has more to do with it than natural selection.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

I'm sure most people coming out of rural high schools in Alberta in the last 80 years or so know of this happening to someone in their class.

My mother was pregnant with myself when her brother was driving and a resulting collision at a gravel, rural interection killed her also-pregnant-sister. They were all teenagers at the time. So . . . . I lived and the other child did not.

Some of my high school classmates also bit the dust in a similar way.

I guess it's a Darwin thing.

Cowperson

Coming from a small town, I think it's a shorter list to count up all my friends and classmates that haven't rolled their vehicle or otherwise got in some sort of stupid preventable accident. Some died, most lived. In all cases alcohol, speed, driver error or some combination of the three were involved. Being a stupid teenager was more than a factor: it was the direct cause.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Table 5

They actually sell seatbelt buckles without the strap over there so you can click it in so the car won't beep at you.

That is pretty awesome, and sounds like it could be a profitable business in Canada.

[Jimmy Stang]

Speaking of seat belts, I have always been amazed at the number of professional drivers (like taxi drivers) that don't wear them. I understand that they need to buckle and unbuckle them a lot more in a day than I do and that's probably in pain, but they are also more likely (simply by the number of hours spent driving around) to be involved in a collision.