13 year old driving a truck that killed 7 members of a college golf team

I never understand why people will let young teens drive ... perhaps thinking it is rural no real traffic etc.... thinking they can practice etc

A tire blowout could cause anyone to lose control of a vehicle ..... but perhaps a more experienced driver could have had a better chance to avoid an accident.
 
Jeni said:
A tire blowout could cause anyone to lose control of a vehicle
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I've only once seen a tire blowout happen at highway speeds and it didn't look like the driver had any control at all, it was a car in the middle lane beside me and the instant it happened that car went sideways and knocked the car behind me and in the outside lane off the highway and brought the whole beltway to a halt (except for me since I'd been beside that car I was still going highway speed and watched it in my rearview mirror -- and had the whole highway to myself from that point on).
 

There was a similar incident close to where I lived in Hampshire. Every day, a minibus used to transport the cleaning staff from a factory to home. The driver was a menace to society - dodging in and out of traffic, cutting in in front of other vehicles etc..

One day, a 14 year old kid decided to take his mates in his folks 4x4 down the motorway (Minimum age is 17) . At one point, he lost control, crossed the central reservation and collided with the aforementioned minibus and killed the driver! Tragic as it was, there was a feeling of 'poetic justice' about it.
 
It is tragic.

I don't know Texas, but in some states younger kids can drive farm vehicles, trucks included. Don't know if that was the case here.

I had a front tire blowout once, the right side. I was able to get the truck off the road without too much difficulty. I was traveling at about 60 mph. Might have been harder had it been the left tire. I was in the slow lane with a good shoulder to steer onto.
 
It was one of those narrow spare tires that blew out. I think the manual says not to drive over 50 mph. On that road, I think the speed limit is 75 mph. With the father also dead, there is no one to sue. However, lots of money is being raised on GoFundme. Don't think the auto insurance company has to payout because an illegal driver was behind the wheel.
 
Once, many decades ago, I was driving at 60 mph, when without any warning I saw my right front wheel (tire AND rim) go flying off into the field. Luckily, I managed to get the car stopped without any accident. Very close call.
 
Nosy Bee-54 said:
Don't think the auto insurance company has to payout because an illegal driver was behind the wheel.
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If the father was in the truck then his insurance would likely pay. He obviously gave permission. However not many people carry enough insurance to cover something like this...

I am sure the lawyers will squeeze everything out of this they can, unfortunately no amount of $ will help the families much.
 
Michael Z said:
This wasn't a "young teen" driving, it was a child.
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Maybe he wasn't as inexperienced as one would expect. Where I live (rural Nebraska) 14 yr olds are allowed to drive, and I imagine they must spend some time learning first, so there are probably 13 yr olds practicing under parental supervision around here, though it never occurred to me (I didn't let my kid drive at 14). I wonder if the young teen /child had been driving for long, if grew up on a farm they might have.
 
Terrible tragedy. I can't imagine how that boy's parents feel knowing that not only is their son gone but that he caused the deaths of so many others. How horrible for all the parents, the friends and families of the students killed as well as the school's staff and students. May all the team members R.I.P. :cry:
 
My dad farmed and I drove short distances on rural roads at 13. I would've never been allowed to drive on a major highway and my dad would've never used a spare for anything other than an emergency trip to get a new tire. There were multiple acts of negligence in this case.

As for blowouts, I've had two on interstates going 75-80 mph...once in a middle lane next to a semi. I knew from driver training not to use the brakes and not to jerk the wheel. A 13 year old most likely wouldn't know that.
 
Nosy Bee-54 said:
It was one of those narrow spare tires that blew out. I think the manual says not to drive over 50 mph. On that road, I think the speed limit is 75 mph. With the father also dead, there is no one to sue. However, lots of money is being raised on GoFundme. Don't think the auto insurance company has to payout because an illegal driver was behind the wheel.
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The truck was a full size pickup, so the spare would NOT have been a "peanut size spare ". The left front tire blew out at 70 mph, sending the truck across the center line, into the van carrying the student golfers. The 2 surviving teens are both from the Canadian Province of Ontario, where I live. Once they are well enough to be flown home, the Ontario Ministry of Health will send a air ambulance jet to Texas to bring them home. The cost to their families ? Zero. Nada. Zilch. JimB.
 
jimintoronto said:
The truck was a full size pickup, so the spare would NOT have been a "peanut size spare ". The left front tire blew out at 70 mph, sending the truck across the center line, into the van carrying the student golfers. The 2 surviving teens are both from the Canadian Province of Ontario, where I live. Once they are well enough to be flown home, the Ontario Ministry of Health will send a air ambulance jet to Texas to bring them home. The cost to their families ? Zero. Nada. Zilch. JimB.
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Is that normal under Canadian health insurance?
 
Nosy Bee-54 said:
Is that normal under Canadian health insurance?
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Yes it is. The families will not be forced into bankruptcy because their child was injured in serious accident in another country. To be clear, Canadian students who attend a University outside of Canada will buy international medical insurance coverage before they leave Canada. That international medical insurance will (hopefully ) be enough to cover the huge costs in the Texas hospitals. The return medevac flight will be 100 percent paid by our Provincial medical care plan, which covers every person who lives in our Province. Once the Canadian kids arrive back in Ontario, their medical care, rehab, and long term care will be provided at no costs to them or their family. Think of it this way......We ALL pay into the OHIP fund, through our individual income taxes and Provincial taxes on things like gasoline, tobacco and alcohol. When we access the medical care system, we never see a bill of any kind. Our hospitals are all public institutions that operate on a "no profit basis ". With just one payer ( The Ontario Government's Ministry of Health ) there are no middlemen . Doctors are paid on a scale agreed upon between the Government and the Ontario Doctors Association for every procedure or service supplied. I recently had both eyes operated on for cataracts. My total costs ? About $30 for parking at the hospital on the 2 days when I had my out patient surgery done. My Wife recently had a virtual colonoscopy done at Toronto Western Hospital. Costs ? None. Each of our ten Provinces and three Territories run their own medical services plans, and if I get sick in another part of Canada my Ontario coverage is automatically accepted there, JimB.
 
Jeni said:
I never understand why people will let young teens drive ... perhaps thinking it is rural no real traffic etc.... thinking they can practice etc

A tire blowout could cause anyone to lose control of a vehicle ..... but perhaps a more experienced driver could have had a better chance to avoid an accident.
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This was my thought exactly. As for whether the spare was in good condition before the accident, or was the appropriate size, that's for local investigators to determine.

Glad you're happy with the Canadian health plan, Jim. My sister in Toronto has always carried a private health insurance policy in addition to the public plan. It seems she has found the Canadian plan wanting at times.

Not dissing Toronto or Canada because I'm a big fan of your country and your city, but let's be honest. No health plan anywhere is perfect.

p.s. Medicare paid in full for my cataract surgery and my colonoscopy. Hospital parking was free.
 
StarSong said:
No health plan anywhere is perfect.
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That is true. I did the same while in Canada. Canadian Medicare is perfectly adequate but I wouldn't have gotten a private room without private insurance. If you break your arm, you get a basic plaster cast. Lightweight fiberglass is extra. The wait time can be troublesome.
 
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