Taft mourns girl killed in accident

[student AT TAFT]

r.i.p jennifer we all love you from taft and you will never be forgotten.

[frank]

Only strait a students seem to get killed. Teens are too young to drive. It's not the car choice. It's better odds not to bring a straight A student.

[just me]

It's hard to believe that there are those of you that choose to get up on a soapbox and bash the parents of the kids involved because they were driving an suv. This article was talking about the grief and impact that the loss of Jennifer was having on the students and faculty of Taft High and her friends. Blame does not always need to be articulated. Those of us that are overweight know we should stay away from fats and sugars, but If I died tomorrow and there was a newspaper article about it, I hope people expressed their sadness at my passing and not the fact that I died because I ate too much of the wrong things. My deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Jennifer Perla. She sounded like an exceptional woman.

[Just me]

just me wrote:

It's hard to believe that there are those of you that choose to get up on a soapbox and bash the parents of the kids involved because they were driving an suv. This article was talking about the grief and impact that the loss of Jennifer was having on the students and faculty of Taft High and her friends. Blame does not always need to be articulated. Those of us that are overweight know we should stay away from fats and sugars, but If I died tomorrow and there was a newspaper article about it, I hope people expressed their sadness at my passing and not the fact that I died because I ate too much of the wrong things. My deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Jennifer Perla. She sounded like an exceptional woman.

You speak with compassion and you make a valid point. But the tragic thing about this death is that it did not have to happen, and that is why it's so troubling to me. When a group of teenagers is going to a prom, most of the parents I know are there to see them off, tell them to have a great time, take pictures, etc. Any parent with half a brain would know immediately that there were too many bodies and not enough seat belts. Why didn't they stop this? What was more important than these kids' safety, and indeed, the seatbelt law in this state? So the parents disregarded both safety and law, and their daughter died because of it. Am I bashing the parents for not giving a damn about their daughter's safety? You're darn tootin' I am. Next, what about the driver? The driver is required to ensure that every passenger is wearing a seatbelt. He apparently didn't. Am I bashing the driver for his stupidity and negligence? Darn right I am. And what about the kids themselves, including the victim? For their entire lives, the seatbelt law has been in effect. Each and every one of them knew (or should have known) that they all had to be buckled up. They too disregarded safety and the law. I'll cut them a little slack because they're minors and not fully accountable as adults, but really, was it worth it to risk their friend's life just to ride in one car? Surely another parent could have driven a second car and dropped them off? Or rented one, for cryin' out loud, which is nothing compared to the other expenses of the prom. People have got to wake the heck up and stop thinking that tragedy can't happen to them, that "just this once" it's OK to jeopardize people's lives. If you eat the wrong things and die because of it, maybe it's your own fault, but at least you're only killing yourself, not jeopardizing seven other people's lives. This was completely avoidable, and all the people who did not speak up or act to make sure that girl was seatbelted are guilty also.