Teens Seriously Injured In Wallingford Car Crash

Three teenagers were seriously injured Thursday night when the car they were riding crashed into a tree on Whirlwind Hill Road, police said.

[Tad]

It used to be that the cost of insuring a young driver on such a car was prohibitive.

Then again I had to pay for my own insurance...

[Clarence Beaks]

Scary. My 18-year-old drives a 1974 Merc Monarch. That he bought himself. And insures himself. And as long as he lives in my house, he has a curfew.

[anot3]

I do hope these boys recover, good luck to them.
The story leaves out some details, like time of day of the accident.

[Konnecticut Better Yet]

WHIG wrote:

18 with a GTI? Maybe the next car will be a WRX! Thats a little faster! Shouldn't there be some kinda unwritten rules for letting new drivers have fast cars? No good ever seems to come of it. I hope these kids will be OK and maybe learn something.

Faster? I re-read the article for the part that said speed was a factor--didn't see anything. Just said it appeared he lost control of it. Yeah, it's hard to keep a handle on loose GTi steering systems.

And he's 18, and this is America. He has every right to drive what he wants. And he puts gas in the tank so his taxes go towards the roads he's driving on. Yeah, everyone badmoths young drivers, like smokers, but no one has a problem taking their money.

And as far as him being a "new" driver, whose fault is that? Our dingbat governor as well as that miserable Nazi at DMV were told that their big, bad and unconstitutional restrictions for young drivers would do nothing to prevent teen accidents. But they're experts on everything--just like the posters on these boards.

[Konnecticut Better Yet]

Clarence Beaks wrote:

Scary. My 18-year-old drives a 1974 Merc Monarch. That he bought himself. And insures himself. And as long as he lives in my house, he has a curfew.

The article said the man lost control of his car, and it is a newer GTi. That car handles like a formula 1 car compared to anything Ford can duct tape together. If you think your curfew is going to help any if he loses control of that thing, you've got another thing coming. Rell and her cronies put a state-imposed curfew on teen drivers. It didn't prevent this now did it?

I swear I wonder what's wrong with people with the difficulty with the legislation right in front of them. What are people looking at???

[T h e r a p i s t]

God bless these youngsters!

[Law is the law]

Konnecticut Better Yet wrote:

<quoted text>
Rell and her cronies put a state-imposed curfew on teen drivers. It didn't prevent this now did it?

Under the law an 18 year holds an unrestricted license with no curfew imposed by the law. New 16 and 17 year old drivers have an 11pm curfew and may not carry passengers for the first 12 months of licensure other than parents and siblings.

Google this and you'll see a lot of research showing the relationship between the number of passengers and crash risk for teens. Excessive speed is also a common characteristic of such crashes.

[rev edmund nadolny]

God help these teens and their families

[Benny]

WHIG wrote:

18 with a GTI? Maybe the next car will be a WRX! Thats a little faster! Shouldn't there be some kinda unwritten rules for letting new drivers have fast cars? No good ever seems to come of it. I hope these kids will be OK and maybe learn something.

1999 GTI is not even close to fast.

[Annoyed]

To Denny: If you don't think 115mph or 175mph is fast for a new driver, then you are part of the problem.
"The GLS comes with a 2.0L engine which produces 115 hp @ 5,200 rpm, and is available in either standard or automatic transmissions. The GLX is available only with a 5-speed manual transmission, and houses a 2.8L engine that is capable of 174 hp @ 5,800 rpm"

[Annoyed]

Sorry, I meant To Benny

[ryan]

Benny wrote:

<quoted text>
1999 GTI is not even close to fast.

hey they are young adults u think they can decide what kind of car they want to get. And your sarcastic attitude is uncalled for with three of my good friends in the hospital.so just keep ur useless comments to yourself betty.

[anot3]

ryan wrote:

<quoted text> hey they are young adults u think they can decide what kind of car they want to get. And your sarcastic attitude is uncalled for with three of my good friends in the hospital.so just keep ur useless comments to yourself betty.

so they are your good friends, can you provide some more details like time of day, speed, etc? and can you tell us how they are now, are they ok? we all hope they'll be ok.

[Konnecticut Better Yet]

Law is the law wrote:

<quoted text>
Under the law an 18 year holds an unrestricted license with no curfew imposed by the law. New 16 and 17 year old drivers have an 11pm curfew and may not carry passengers for the first 12 months of licensure other than parents and siblings.
Google this and you'll see a lot of research showing the relationship between the number of passengers and crash risk for teens. Excessive speed is also a common characteristic of such crashes.

Correct. But after all the restrictions when you're 16 and 17, you will be a less experienced driver at 18. An 18 year old will now be just as experienced as a 16 year old with his license still warm from the laminating machine when it comes to driving at night or driving with passengers.

There are already laws for erratic driving, so if the driver is distracted by passengers erratic driving would result. It's a law enforcement issue. If this was so epidemic, where were the big crackdowns by the police? Or, are they too busy standing around looking for seat belt violations? Either way, how are they supposed to enforce the new laws when when they couldn't enforce the existing laws?

Besides, as a teen, I, and pretty much everyone I've ridden with, either ignores what's going on in the car and concentrates on driving, or they tell everyone to shut up. I find it hard to believe all these kids are distracted by their passengers.

And again, just because speeding is "often" a factor in accidents doesn't mean it's the case here. Even a collision at a slow speed in one of those tin cans, people are going to get hurt.

[annoyed at ignorance]

i understand all of these comments about restrictions and how it should be changed. but what happened happened. these are peers of mine and most of the students don't want the media involved mind people remarking how we're inexperienced. all 3 of the boys are nice boys and responsible.
as a student and a friend i hope people would respect to keep some comments to themselves.
the crash happened around 10:30pm so it wasnt even after curfew if the curfew applied to 18 year olds. Their conditions have not improved much but Kevin Godek is now talking and Brian McCarthy has minimumly responded to stimuli. but all are taking a step in the right direction.

[ryan]

It was last night at 1030 and speed really wasn't invovled they are doingg maybe a little better responding

[annoyed at ignorance]

Annoyed wrote:

To Denny: If you don't think 115mph or 175mph is fast for a new driver, then you are part of the problem.
"The GLS comes with a 2.0L engine which produces 115 hp @ 5,200 rpm, and is available in either standard or automatic transmissions. The GLX is available only with a 5-speed manual transmission, and houses a 2.8L engine that is capable of 174 hp @ 5,800 rpm"

just because it says that speeding was a factor does not mean he was going that fast. the speed limit on that road is 25 mph i believe. speeding on that road is 30 mph. its a winding road the petals from the blooming flowers are falling fro m the trees. its just poor conditions.

[Shocked]

The comments in response to this article are horrific. These three young men are good kids, and are all in serious condition fighting for their lives. Rather than kind words and prayers for them and their families, people with very little information are passing judgement and should be ashamed of themselves. I hope none of you ever find yourselves in a situation like what happened to these three last night!
I am praying with all of my heart that all three boys are okay and pull through this.

[Mac N Roe]

Annoyed wrote:

To Denny: If you don't think 115mph or 175mph is fast for a new driver, then you are part of the problem.
"The GLS comes with a 2.0L engine which produces 115 hp @ 5,200 rpm, and is available in either standard or automatic transmissions. The GLX is available only with a 5-speed manual transmission, and houses a 2.8L engine that is capable of 174 hp @ 5,800 rpm"

WOW...you canNOT be serious!

May I politely suggest a remedial physics class from your local community college?

MPH and hp are unrelated.

115 hp = 115 horsepower. I have a lawn tractor with 25% of that for the love of God.

[Someone who knows]

WHIG wrote:

18 with a GTI? Maybe the next car will be a WRX! Thats a little faster! Shouldn't there be some kinda unwritten rules for letting new drivers have fast cars? No good ever seems to come of it. I hope these kids will be OK and maybe learn something.

As a family member of one of these boys, perhaps you should learn the facts before you add insult to injury. I just left his beside. Did you see him crying for his friends? Did you witness the severity of his injuries and see him in pain? Did you see the pain in his eyes when he asked about his friends? No, you didn't. But I did. You don't know these boys - don't judge them! Let them all heal, process what they've been through, and then move on with their lives. They are 18. Unfortunate accidents happen. No one sets out to injure themselves and/or their friends. That is why they are called ACCIDENTS. They happen. People are accountable for them. But what they don't need is a bunch of narrow minded individuals who don't even know them - sitting around and posting nasty messages about them. This is helpful how?