Mike Turner, the young man police say was behind the wheel of the deadly crash on Sunday morning, was facing six previous driving charges after an accident last month. According to our news partners the Seattle Times, Turner was arrested on March 6th on suspicion of drunken driving.
The Times cites the police report, saying police responded to the intersection of NW 65th St and 20th Ave NW on March 6th just before 4 a.m., where witnesses say they saw a white van hit several parked cars and speed away. The report goes on to say, according to the Times, that the first officer on the scene found the van crashed into a tree in a planting strip at NW 67th St. The Times, citing the police report, states that “police found an unopened bottle of beer inside the van and a plastic baggie containing a number of pills in Turner’s jacket pocket. He admitted he had taken some pills recently, but did not have a prescription for them.”
The Times reports that charging papers state that six charges were filed against Turner including driving under the influence, first-degree negligent driving and hit-and-run driving. You can read more about this incident in the full article by Seattle Times reporter Sara Jean Green. (Photo courtesy Seattle Times)
Oh boy…
Yes, I have seen these boys driving recklessly throughout Ballard for years. We alerted the cops many times of underage drinking and reckless drag car racing, but to no avail. It's a terrible shame but they should have never been allowed to get away with this behavior in the first place. He was only 20, so you start to wonder about where he got the alcohol from and where they were allowed to party? We have to have a higher standard of personal and community responsibility.
So you get drunk (twice the legal limit IF you were of age), take a bunch of prescription pills (not yours), hit 5 parked cars (and continue driving) then slam into a tree into a median and it only costs you 500.00 bucks to bond out? wtf.
Its classy people are leaving cans of beer at the site of the crash.
Darwin doesnt take a day off.
So, so sorry to hear this.
This story got really nasty comments on the Time's website over the last two days. They aren't allowing comments on this particular news story at all. I would think about doing the same, GeekySwedes.
Thoughts and prayers are will all the families, and especially with the lone survivor.
Pills and booze at 20… and working on a second dui just weeks after his first. Obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed. Unfortunately he had to take two with him.
Doesn't seem like the appropriate time to post stuff the family wouldn't necessarily be proud of. They just lost someone they love. I don't know any of the people involved, but I know what it's like to have to go through a death and then hear crap about that person (my mother when I was 12). Maybe consider taking this down, for the family's sake?
“Licenses for drivers arrested on DUI typically are suspended for 90 days, but those suspensions take effect 60 days after an offense.”
Well that's just stupid. And now there are 2 innocent young men that could have been spared by a smarter law.
All of these factors add to the tragedy for the family and the whole community. I am hopeful that each person who is touched by this tragedy will put their feelings into action.
Not sure the suspension would have kept him from driving anyways, but why the 60 days? I thought the whole point was that this driver was an immediate danger on the roads.
The thing is, there's nothing about having a suspended license that stops a person from getting into a car and driving it, responsibly or otherwise. The sad fact is that many people with suspended–even revoked–licenses continue to operate motor vehicles. My point being that even if the suspension had taken effect immediately, this accident would very likely have still occurred. The only thing that could possibly have prevented it would have been a stay in jail and some substance abuse treatment.
This is indeed a sad event for everyone involved.
this is a COMMUNITY website, for the COMMUNITY, not for the families of the deceased. i assume there are any number of websites set up for the people that are grieving- this is not one of them. As a news site, this website should report the news. Asking the swedes to take down posts or limit comments is inappropriate. People who don't like the content are free not to read it.
Boys are knuckleheads until about 25. Anyone older than 25 can probably remember the stupid stuff they did when they were young. You should now look back and count your blessing that you lived. My heart goes out to the parents and families. No parent should have to outlive their kids.
Would you say the same for the family of the gentelman who killed the four cops?
Well said.
Well, would the sharpest tools in the shed go in a car with him? It seems like the shed had more than one tool problem.
I second that, JRD…
But I thought these were good kids??? Ya right.
The family had to know about this behavior. My daughter tells me that this kid was still living at home. None of this should come as a surprise to the family, everyone knew what was going on.
Kids don't all of a sudden wake up one morning and start to behave this way, it takes years of neglect for these behaviors to develop. At many points along those years, intervention by the family would have been possible and would still have made a difference. This kid is a product of his environment and the family is the biggest part of that environment.
Why? This is now a story about criminal behavior. If Mr. turner was from outside Ballard would people be so lenient about his actions?
Agreed and this is no longer a story about an accident, it's a story about criminal behavior.
Jackie, Well Said.
My condolences to all the families and friends of these individuals. I have lived in Ballard for over 15 years and know these boys and their families well. We all have kids who have made dumb mistakes and if we all look back there are very few, if any, of us who can say we never made dangerous, dumb mistakes. We all are lucky to have survived our wild teen and college years. Before you pass judgement on whether drinking or drugs were involved, stop and think of what a loss this is for all of us. The kids in our community have lots friends, parents have lost children and families have lost loved ones. We have all lost the joy they brought to the lives of those they touched and our community has lost young men who could and would have improved Ballard for generations to come. No one should have to pay with their lives for being young. Instead of slandering these boy's character, take the time to imagine the loss of these families and friends. If you knew them and not of them, you would be a better person. It's easy to pass judgement, spout speculation and assume~think before you speak, as we tell our children to do. RIP Kellen, Spenser and Mike~Forever Young
I never drove drunk as a 'kid'. None of my friends drove drunk when I was with them.
I survived my youth because my parents (my Mom) would have killed me if I'd ever been pulled over just once for DUI or driving without insurance. Killed me. She'd still hold it over me to this day. One time I got a speeding ticket doing 70 on the highway (the old days, when the speed limit was 55) my mom took away my car keys for a month.
This 'kids will be kids' stuff has to stop. No more excuses from parents. Kids in this country run amok because if irresponsible parents whether it's in Ballard or anywhere else.
I know one of these families and the parents are very involved, fine people. My parents were highly educated, very involved parents and I still smoked dope, drank alcohol and got in the car with drunk drivers. Like I said before, most teens at some point make stupid choices. I survived my stupidity. These boys didn't. Those who are judging this boys and these families must have grown up very sheltered or are just living in denial.
Sheltered? Is that what you call 'responsible' these days?
I know a lot of families, including my own, where the kids don't smoke dope, drink alcohol, and behave irresponsibly.
Parents have everything to do with whether that happens or not.
As many have noted, this forum is not intended as some kind of feel good support group for the parents. For that they'd better off with their friends or their church.
Ugh, what a sad story. My friends were two of the people whose cars were hit on March 6th. They both heard about his fatal crash on Sunday and brought flowers to the memorial, despite the major damage he did to their cars.
Friends of the driver have posted on a car forum that the driver was known to “drive like a mad man”.
All things aside there seems to be a significant failure of the legal system at the very least. The judge that set a 500.oo bond should be questioned.
And the “kids will be kids, didn't you do this” argument is completely bizarre. If I had shown my parents this type of behavior in an 30 days span they probably would have had me committed. I sure as hell wouldn't have been driving around at 4am. But that really has no bearing on anything.
As many have said, regardless of the circumstances its a terrible thing. No amount of judgment deserved or not means anything to anyone at this point.
I would hope that when heads cool and eyes dry something meaningful can be put forth to prevent others from having to learn the lesson again.
“Its classy people are leaving cans of beer at the site of the crash.”
Wow, the homeless drunks will have a field day with that!
Sheltered are the kids who break the law, endanger others and engage in criminal actions and still live at home, with their parents and get to drive a muscle car around town at 4 am with no consequences. That is SHELTERED!
Any car registered to the DUI perp should be immediately booted for the duration of the license suspension.
Anyone who lends the perp a car during the suspension should have their car impounded and their license revoked.
Anyone else dependent on a car registered to the perp should just beat the hell out of the perp until they gain satisfaction.
Comments definitely should not be disabled. This is beyond outrageous. Maybe these families should read the comments and have a reality check. They failed. Failed, failed, failed. Blaming the legal system because they didn't take his license away right away? Nope…blame the parents who probably bought the kid the car and obviously weren't parenting the boy. He was 20? Did he live at home? My guess is he did. Parents weren't parenting. Period.
My heart breaks for these families – but there is NO way that these parents were “involved” if this kid had so many charges against him. And what about the parents of the other kids? Were they aware that this kid had so many offenses?
Sick. Charges should be filed against the parents of this boy too.
alysonsharon, this takes a lot of class. From what I remember from church, this is what Jesus had in mind when he told people to go love each other.
Anger is natural, but I think at this point there is no point to follow a punitive instinct; they are not going to “learn a lesson” – they are dead.
Many parents of teens falling into addiction struggle hard to figure out where the went wrong and it is difficult to recorrect a course at a certain point. The focus now should be on the caring for these grieving parents and figuring out what can we do now to energize efforts to educate those who are vulnerable to these kind of behaviors?
I just read this on the Queen Anne View and attempted to comment but apparently I'm banned over there? No ide a why, but, whatever. If she wants less visits, than so be it.
As for this new information. Wow. Quite a legacy he's left. I give it one month before all the other families file suit. Killed three kids, maimed a girl and bakrupted his family. Way to go dude!
Thank You linusrox—well said and very true.
Tastyviddles:
You are correct, these comments are certainly just the thing to shock these kids' parents into understanding their part in all of this now. The loss of their children not quite enough, but the public forum comments is what is required! Genius!
Name: I understand why you are banned. I am surprised and I guess I shouldn't be that so many people who don't even know the kids or the parents find it fit to judge based on news articles. I truly hope you never have to endure this kind of loss and that your story is never public fodder. And just as an FYI, not all the boys lived at home, they worked and bought their own cars. I know plenty of parents who go to games, have dinner every night with their kids, are part of the PTA, communicate with teachers and still have kids who drink and party. Their kids people, and Jackie, it is those who insist their kids don't do anything that are always to the ones who do. I for a fact, know many kids who smoke pot and drink and their parents swear not mine.
Be kind, for but the Grace of God go you!
I completely agree. I find it very disturbing that after the first DUI the parents let him continue to drive around. Maybe to and from work but out and about at 4am should have been completely out of the question. We need to get it out of the heads of teenagers that the more you drink, the more drugs you do and the faster you drive the cooler you are.
I also don’t know who thought it was a good idea to leave beer cans at the crash sight but as far as I am concerned that is disgusting beyond belief.
TECHNICALLY his parents could not have legally stopped him, as he was over 18, so im not sure how legal charges would stand. all we can do is shake our heads that not more was done to control this kid after what happened ONE MONTH ago.
Nope – I'm tired of the argument that parents should just accept the fact that kids are going to be stupid and drink and do drugs. I don't care how many dinners, or games a parent goes to – if their child hasn't learned how to handle alcohol responsibly – (or to imbibe under the age of 21…) then the parents have FAILED. If kids don't know the consequences of taking drugs – FAIL. Drinking and driving? Parents have FAILED.
Either you raise your kids…or you go on auto-pilot and just decide that kids are going to do what kids are going to do – if you decide the latter – parenting FAIL.
DISAGREE. had this been the first drug-induced accident i may be more inclined to agree, but the driver had a DUI ONE MONTH ago. it takes a real child to not learn from an experience like that. YES i have made bad decisions in my life, and luckily have not been harmed, hurt, or killed. but every time i LEARN from my mistakes and change my actions for the better.
he chose not to, and look what happened.
I'm not suggesting that the parents read the comments and be shocked into reality – what I meant to suggest is that the community has a right to be OUTRAGED, and this is a forum wherein to express that. If the parents, or friends of the family choose to read it – then IMO…that's their decision, and maybe they need to understand how their childrens' actions have affected the community.
as mentioned many times before, although this is a sad story and people died, this is a PUBLIC message board. given the circumstances of the crash, of course people will have harsh tihngs to say.
if you dont want to hear it, i suggest you not read the comments here.
The expression is actually, “There but for the grace of God go I”
And kindness has nothing to do with this. Knowing what I know about the parents and the kids that were involved, there were some clear failings. This isn't some kind of feel good forum for the parents. I hope that people read this and think about what their own kids might be doing and make some changes while changes can still make a difference.
After a certain point it's too late for the parents. Then we rely on the courts. Usually the courts don't do a very good job either, and some kind of tragedy ensues. I consider this a good outcome that no truly innocent people were killed. There are degrees of innocence but anyone joyriding in a car under these circumstances (4:00 in the morning, driver arrested for hit and run and DUI) isn't completely innocent. You've got to take some responsibility for your actions.
really? people are still coming on here shocked to see harsh comments?
these are no longer “assumptions and speculations”
these are facts
the driver was SPEEDING at the time of the crash
he was arrested a month ago driving drunk and high, hit and run, slamming into a tree, injuring himself and the passenger
he was allowed to continue driving
his own FRIENDS admit to him boasting about driving like a 'mad man'
residents of the neighborhood have witnessed, and reported, these kids speeding and driving dangerously.
yes, everyone makes dumb decisions, but whats REALLY dumb is not learning from them.
its a real shame, that accident a month ago was a BLESSING- no one was killed and he couldve manned up and maybe grown up a little and learned from it, but he DIDNT and now 3 people are dead.
I think this shows more than anything that, though we pretend otherwise, Ballard is more of an anonymous suburb than a small town.
If we were a small town everyone would have known this kid and felt comfortable doing things to modify his behavior in the ways people do in small towns: talking to him directly with no worry, shunning him and his parents, coluding with authorities to stop the bad behavior. Lots of informal pressure would have descended after the first DUI crash.
We though are an anonymous suburb – people have an idea that someone in the hood up to something, but we aren't networked enough to do more than let civic authorities enact formal legal measures.
Very sad — bad choices but no one deserved the awful result — and unfortunate that we aren't, as a community, really able to do more to get at these kinds of problems quickly and efficiently.
We need to do A LOT more than just shake our heads.
That is exactly what I expect to see in a few weeks. After the families mourn together, they will turn on each other and the lawsuits will fly. I suspect that if they had all survived but ended up crippled, these best friends would be suing each other.
“I consider this a good outcome that no truly innocent people were killed.”
Really? This statement to me seems presumptive and a little mean.
Facts bear out the case he was hell-bent for destruction. That doesn't mean the rest of the community should point a finger and yell, “HE HAD IT COMING”.
It's a tragedy for all families and friends regardless. Let's hope something is learned.
This is no different then if he had been playing Russian Roulette. Would we call it a tragedy if he had died doing that?
Must be nice having the luxury of time and perspective to pass judgment on people you do not know.
I'll be EXTREMELY surprised if there are no lawsuits for 'wrongful death' lodged against the driver. Especially if he was living at home. Especially if his parents have anything to go after. It might take awhile but this is America where many people try to profit from the poor judgment of others.
I don't think that kind of community oversight is common in small towns any more, Ballardemician, if it ever was.
I'm very sorry for the folks who lost a loved one. I'm sure they are in terrible pain and my heart goes out to them. And I can't assume parental negligence caused this tragedy — we all know how powerful peer pressure is, especially for teenagers. That said, however, I agree that far more should have been done after his previous DUI to stop him getting behind the wheel impaired and reckless again a month later. It's clear he had spent years thinking he was invincible. It's clear he was dangerously irresponsible, even criminally so. Anyone who got in a car with him knowing this about him was risking their life.
My immediate action upon hearing this was to sit my two boys down, tell them the story, and tell them that if they ever (1) drank and drove; (2) got in a car with someone who was drinking; (3) didn't wear seatbelts when in a car, the wrath of the mom from hell would descend. We may also go to leave flowers at the crash site.
Again, my sympathies to friends and families of those killed.
i dont think we're pointing a finger and shouting, and if we are its only because our pleas to learn from this are shot down for 'indecency'
Also the innocent people, sleeping in their beds and having their cars rammed into………by a kid with no insurance. More than likely, these people are without transportation.
This is minor compared to the wave of destruction over Easter weekend, but shows lack of responsbility none the less.
maybe so Rabbitsan —
I'd just like to think something could be done to steer people to more rational behavior, even if they aren't our responsibility per se.
It does seem like when I was a kid people were much more likely to say “hey stupid knock it off” or complain to/pressure your parents if you were putting yourself in danger.
Place your bets on the toxicology report. I'll wager that at a minimum they find THC and a BAC of at least .08. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the BAC is much higher and that other intoxicants are discovered.
At what point will you naysayers assign blame? .09? .16?
If he was legally drunk and high when he crashed, this is no accident. If he'd survived he'd likely be looking at 20+ years in jail.
TECHNICALLY it may be an assumption that somehow the other passengers didnt know about his previous driving incident, or didnt know what he had a history of speeding/joyriding, but realistically, they were all friends. it was no secret.
dont split hairs, we all know what was meant by “truly innocent people”
i agree with that.
20 yrs? reckless driving and killing 2 others, putting a third in ICU?
hypothetically, had he survived, i wouldnt be surprised to see life in prison.
2 counts of vehicular homicide, 1 counts vehicular assault.
but theres no point in discussing hypothetical outcomes.
I'm not so concerned with underage kids getting alcohol. I'm more concerned with drinking and driving – especially underage. When he was originally accused of drinking and driving, his drivers license should have been suspended as soon as they discovered he was under 21 – right then and there.
I can barely understand that adult being accused of drinking and driving has a 30/60 day waiting period (from article) to get their license suspended, but when an underage kid is involved this should have been immediate.
not splitting hairs just find it hard to imagine a case in which someone might not be partially blamed when bad things happen to them. This doesn't make it okay to then take a they got what they had coming attitude.
so had he hit a random person walking down the street, instead of the pole, that person should be partially blamed?
is that really happening?? *facepalm*
no wonder these kids keep getting messed up in alcohol-induced accidents.
I grew up in a small town in the 50s and 60s and at least four or five died on the highwat each generation.
if you can find any solid evidence that the information within these news articles that we are deriving 'judgments from' is false, i'll happily retract all negative statements made. until then, yes. im going to respond based the information that is reported.
ps- the articles are also saying they were great young men who were friends to many, should we negate those statements as well?
Most telling is the 'nice' kids who are leaving cans of beer at the crash site.
“Knowing what I know about hte parents and the kids that were involved”, from what you said your daughter had to tell you one of the boys was living at home. You clearly don't know the boys or their families or you would know that the driver only had a father in his life, which was a difficult circumstance for any kid. I agree everyone must take responsibility for their own actions, but please don't go spouting off that you know these people and how they raised their kids when you don't . It's easy to judge when it's not your kid. I truly hope your kids are the perfect kids, but remember you don't pick their friends, you don't make their decisions when they are out, and all you can do is hope and pray everything you have said and done over the years will help them make the right choices when they are at a party (yes they will go) and have a choice to make.
curious. what does zero tolerance mean for under 21 if ones license is not revoked on the spot?
“If he was legally drunk and high when he crashed, this is no accident. If he'd survived he'd likely be looking at 20+ years in jail.”
Even if he was sober it's still not an “accident”! An accident is something beyond a person's control. He chose to speed and drive in a reckless manner – that's not an accident. I'm tired of people calling instances of driver neglect “accidents”. Drivers need to be held to a higher degree of responsibility. Speeding, running red lights, taking a corner too fast, not yielding to pedestrians are all cases of drivers choosing to not pay attention to their driving. When these people cause crashes they should not be written off as accidents as though it wasn't their fault.
This kid nearly ran over my child so I'm quite happy he can no longer threaten others with his car. Only sad part is he killed two other people in the process.
tragic & stupid.
bummer — I guess then kids are going to do this sort of thing regardless of what the community around them tries to do about it …
Nonsense. I grew up in a small town. Everyone knew everyone. Plenty of people got drunk and drove like a**holes there. They were people who simply didn't care about anyone else but themselves and no amount of 'community' would have stopped them.
Don't try and blame all of us in Ballard as somehow failing this kid. He failed us.
I feel terrible for the families.
However, what can we expect in a world in which we essentially condone drinking and driving of our community role models — take Randy Dorn as recent example. One night in jail, nominal community service, suspension from driving for 90 days — really, how is this going to change anyone's behavior? Randy's or community members who observe and learn . . .
Crack down and crack down hard. NOW!
what I'm saying is it is easy to say that wouldn't have happened if … (Suzy had sought treatment for her exercise compulsion or hadn't been wearing headphones when she was jogging at 4 in the morning).
I think that saying there was reason not to doesn't automatically ascribe blame and doesn't, particularly in this horrible case, imply anyone deserved what happened.
If you don't buy that fine. In the balance to me it seems better to be kind in this case given the circumstances.
not trying to blame, just thining about how this sort of thing might be stopped in the future.
but if you enjoy feeling attacked then I'm waving a pointy stick right now for you.
Looks an awful lot like the maniac I saw a few weeks ago on 24th passing everyone in the center turn lane then using the right turn lane at 65th to pass everyone on the right. Give me a break on the “kids do stupid stuff”. Sure they do, but this young man's behavior was well past “stuff”. Normal kids don't keep driving recklessly after a recent arrest for DUI, drive without insurance, and risk other people's lives on a seemingly daily basis. He obviously had a problem and too many people were willing to give him pass. Why? Because he played on the football team?
I do feel for the families.
Agreed Mr. CP.
Amazing. My car was one of the 5 that Mike hit last month. Totaled. My heart still goes out to all of them and their families. Praying he's with Jesus now. Brought his friends some orchids, hopefully they'll take them to Mike's family.
ballardmike – I don't know these people, but the story makes clear the pain they have caused. And makes clear that they made decisions – concious decisions – with horrendous results. They aren't hurting – they are out of it. The survivors, on the other hand…
Teens and young adults – plz give a thought to those who will be heartbroken if you do x or y. Hearts hurt when they are broken.
Um.. not so much. Maybe we judge because we've been there – def. not sheltered or in denial. One of my brothers was completely reckless behind the wheel. He and his friends thought it was cool to speed, like their use of drugs and alcohol. Then at 25 he took his own life (thankfully not taking anyone else out with him). Of 6 kids, he was the successful suicide; 2 more have made attempts. My parents suck and they are to blame. I've never told them, but they could have made a HUGE difference. Of course, from the outside, we looked like the perfect happy family.
From everything I can see here, this sad outcome seems to be more or less unavoidable. For whatever reason, he had little regard for his own safety, and even worse, for anyone else's.
It's one thing to engage in risky behavior where you are only yourself at risk, perhaps mountain climbing. It is another thing when you are putting random people who don't know you in mortal danger. It's akin to terrorism.
The lone survivor is likely so badly messed up that she'll suffer for the rest of her life from the mental and physical trauma of the last few seconds before she passed out. It's reported she was 15 years old and hanging out with guys in their 20s. Incredible.
I've heard enough about the driver in the last 2 days to make me wonder what most people consider to be “nice” kids. If anyone knew of the kid named Andrew that got interviewed in the paper on Monday, they wouldn't think that any friend of his was a nice kid.
I completely agree. I hate that my generation gets lumped into this category where doing drugs and drinking till you black out and fighting people should be looked at as cool. People that know how to handle themselves as far as these things go probably have a better chance at not killing themselves or taking the lives of others. How much respect could this kid really have had if he took these kids along for the ride when he had such little regard for his own life?
Someone bought these underage kids alcohol. I would hope there will be an investigation into that. They are the most guilty.
I hope as they read this, it keeps them up at night.
Why you would get banned from a forum seems strange to me. You and manerequired make more sense than anyone. I agree with you two one hundred percent.
I haven't been by to see that, but like I said, I know friends of the driver and they are the antithesis of classy. Try stealing $20 from a kid at a party and then beating him unconscious when he asks nicely for you to give it back (thinking that you're just joking around). These people make me sick.
and, given the circumstances, it seems to me that we should be upfront about this case.
this WAS a preventable wreck. and the longer people keep their head in the sand about the nature the wreck, the longer we'll go without learning from the mistakes made, and more lives will be lost.
One of his friends has been throwing parties at the house. I'm assuming the friends parents provide the alcohol. Regardless if they don't, they're letting the kids party there, WHILE THE PARENTS ARE STILL THERE. That's what happened on March 6. Parents let the kids throw another party that week, let the kids out of the house and drive. Maybe it happened again the other night.
I do think its possible to see the sadness in the story while at the same time fuming that people like this do not care about the risks they take with the people around them. I'm sure he (or someone like him)has driven by my house, my family at some time putting them at risk. Infuriating.
They aren't “most” guilty. Yes, they should be punished for providing alcohol to minors but the “most” guilty are the under-age drinkers that obtained the alcohol, drank it, got into a car, and sped through Ballard. That is the “most guilty” party.
agreed. some of you are severely underestimating how easy it is for a minor to get alcohol. what really matters is what happens once theyve consumed it.
How could you ever wish that that keeps someone up at night? I'm sure the person who did purchase the alcohol was close to the boys and has already replayed the scenario in their heads a million times. I'm sure they are sufficiently regretful to the point of feeling ill. That statement just sounds like pure evil, I feel sorry for you.
You're right. I graduated in '07 from Ballard, and by the time I was a sophomore, getting alcohol was a non-issue. We hardly gave it a second thought, it's way too easy. Who knows, maybe one of them had a fake I.D. God knows a handful of my friends did.
At this point we can't change the outcome of this terrible event. But we can offer our condolences and ask what we can do? Is there any fund being set up for the teenage girl that survived?
At this point we can't change the outcome of this terrible event. But we can offer our condolences and ask what we can do? Is there any fund being set up for the teenage girl that survived?
That car could go from 40 to 70 in seconds people, seconds. If you want to fault the passengers for not telling the driver to slow down, you have never been a youngster. no one can be judged for faltering in a split-second decision. They could have never guessed it would be their last second of indecision.
If you want to judge people for exploring a big world and messing it all up, judge-away. I would never pretend to get it all right.
This story is as predictable as growing old and dying. So judge while you are still innocent, but next time you speed, or J-walk, or roll through a stop sign, I hope you remember, you deserve to be as dead as these kids who broke the law for one final time.
Randy Dorn, the superintendant of public schools, drives drunk, it’s a day in jail. He calls it a teachable moment. Three boys try the same thing and they get the death penalty. When is this madness going to stop? We need to be much tougher on drunk driving. The driver’s license of the young man should have been revoked immediately and all of his vehicles impounded. Sounds harsh?
There's this 18 year old male that's been speeding recklessly and blaring his music down our quiet residential block, where there about eleven children, under the age of 13 and a host of pets reside. For the past month, my husband has been encouraging him to slow down. Well that turned the 18 year old speeding faster through the neighborhood, cussing all sorts of colorful names in our direction, ignoring the “slow, kids at play” sign (he said “F-THE SIGN!!” and ignoring all of our mild threats to reduce speed. Today, I called the non-emergency police department. The officer came out within 15 minutes – incredible. I had the officer follow me to the boys house. From that point, the officer told me that if he doesn't straighten up, his license will be taken away. The story continues where my husband finds out from another neighbor that this 18 yr old boy knew these boys from Ballard HS. This incident is so fresh, one would think to be extra cautious with any lives around them. This 18 year old is full of attitude and rebellion, he's like a ticking bomb waiting to go off. He's no longer a minor, therefore just one life to go down with him, will destroy the rest of his life and the lives of others that must continue living with the pain. Each individual should be responsible for their own actions – the parent's need to drill it into their heads that one slip will have them facing huge consequences, for the rest of their lives. My sister was killed in a car accident. She was 13. My parents still cry to this day, passing through her graveyard. Life can be wonderful in so many ways and so cruel on the darker side. Drive safe. Wear your seat belts, reduce the drugs and alcohol intake. Ballard Mom of two young kids.
Don't be a coward, take action: pour 2 quarts of gasoline on the windshield of his parked car at 4 AM. Step back and throw lit matches at it. Run like hell. Problem solved at least until he gets a new car, and you'll probably get away with it.
Mary – from my own experience with a traumatic accident, it is very unlikely that she will remember those last few seconds. Our brains can protect us quite well, with retrograde amnesia.
cityslicker was not being a coward when accompanying the officer to the kid's house – knowing full well that this rotten kid could take revenge. Kudos to cityslicker for doing this.
burning the kid's car won't stop him from driving or from being rotten.
No Jake, if I'm driving at 60 mph down market, stoned, drunk, no insurance, with a DUI and hit and run in pocket from a few weeks before, then I deserve this.
“broke the law for one final time.”
You compare the above crimes this kid committed with jaywalking?
Sorry, didn't mean to say 'deserve'…should have said 'I would expect this'.
Poorly written. It was late.
Yes, I commend her for confronting him with the police. Having done so, it would be doubly foolish to take any vigilante action.
I meant that *in general* if someone was displaying a pattern of dangerous behavior involving a car, unless the park in a garage attached to a house, some late-night destruction would be tempting.
My brother is at Harborview right now for another bad tragedy and I was in the waiting room with the family of the young 15 year old girl who is fighting for her life. I feel so sorry for them. They are grief stricken and praying for her recovery. Let us all say a prayer for her. Let us pray that she survives so that she can talk to other teenagers about the dangers of drinking, taking prescription drugs and driving recklessly. She made a terrible mistake, but lets all pray for her full recovery. Thank you
So very sad…
I agree with others that labeling these kids “Good Kids” does nobody any favors. This is not unavoidable “boys will be boys” behavior. It's unacceptable in every way.
It's probably much more accurate to describe them as “Likeable Kids”. Doesn't make the situation any less of a tragedy and tells the truth.
I believe that labeling them “Good Kids” denies their responsibility for their behavior. They've paid the ultimate price, but they're still responsible. All of them.
Our kids that are left behind are not served well by vilifying these kids or by turning them into victims. This is a stark reminder of the consequences of bad choices.
My heart breaks at the loss of these Likeable Kids… I pray for comfort for those they left behind.
Please Pray for the girl and her family. Let us hope that she has a full and speedy recovery and can then help other teenagers not drink and drive, take drugs and drive recklessly. I was in the Harborview waiting room last night and her family was there and distraught.
Consider it done.
thank you. i see all these negative comments about these kids and i knew all of them as an 09 bhs grad and it seems rude and unnecessary. people break laws all the time its not just us. so if you have something angry to say about spens bobo and mike keep it to yourself cus its rude. how would you feel if someone close to you had something like this happen and you saw a bunch of people say things like “well they deserved it” or “thats what you get for breaking the law” i see drivers blow stop signs all the time i pray that any of you jerks blow a stop sign and you get tboned. just enough to ruin your car and make you think twice.
youre an asshole pete.
news flash you dont have to be 21 to buy alcohol
Yes, prayers for the families and for this young girl. Is she a BHS student? Imagine how much she will have to deal with being the lone survivor of this crash. Peace be with her!
BHSmom – They could have killed you. They could have killed your kids. It is sad you making excuses for people who made choices that resulted in their own deaths and the serious injury of another person. People here who “pass judgement” are angry and with good reason. Yes, it is sad the boys died. They did not deserve to die. But this was not an accident. They drove far, far too fast in the dark and rain and the consequences of that can be loss of vehicle control. It was their choice to do what they did and we are all very lucky they didn't kill anyone else.
“I believe that labeling them “Good Kids” denies their responsibility for their behavior. They've paid the ultimate price, but they're still responsible. All of them.”
These were good kids, and just like the rest of us, good, kind, generous people make bad choices all the time. They are responsible for their own deaths, and no one knows that more than their families and friends.
Please remember that just because you make a bad choice doesn't mean you were a reckless person in every aspect of your life. These boys were not only “likeable” they volunteered in the community, helped neighbors, were great big brothers and wonderful sons, cousins, nephews, grandchildren and friends.
I hope for all you that when you make your bad choice, it won't be the last thing you do, as you too will then be judged by your final decision.
I have a son who drives, sometimes too fast. Does he know better yes, has his keys been take away, yes, but somehow that doesn't matter. I just told my son on Sunday when we were leaving one of the houses of these boys ” all you kids think it will always be someone else, I am okay, he's worse than I am, and I can handle it. It's not, it can happen to you just like them.”
If this tragedy saves one life, it will not have been all for nothing.
I think that when Mayor McGinn reschedules his, 'Youth and Families Initiative caucus', those who are concerned and wish to voice their opinions on how to make Ballard a safer community, ought to join me there. Ironically, it was supposed to be held at Ballard High last night, but due to this tragedy caused by negligence, it has been postponed. I will keep everyone posted on this.
Yes, people make bad choices all the time, but calling this “bad choices” is really minimizing the conduct. This was criminal behavior on multiple fronts.
All of us make bad choices, not all of us engage in criminal conduct that costs us and others our lives.
If we are to learn from tragedy, we must first refuse to minimize it.
Maybe we should not send rapists to prison because it is 'rude and unnecessary” and because their family will miss them?
If someone close to me was drinking and driving, hitting cars and tearing ass through Ballard at 60mph they would not be my friend any longer.
There are consequences for endangering the public.
“people break laws all the time its not just us”
It doesn't matter. We aren't talking about other people breaking the law – we are talking about 1 kid who specifically should NOT have been driving. We're talking about at least 3 other kids (and probably more, since they more than likely left a party) who let this kid get behind a wheel. We're talking about 4 families who are in turmoil – their lives are forever changed.
All this is especially sad because based on the Facebook memorial page set up for these kids, their friends just don't get it. There's going to be a candlelight vigil tomorrow evening at the Taco Time. I wonder how many kids are going to go home afterward to drink and party to “celebrate” their memory…and how many are going to drive recklessly afterward…
I made a typo there. The candlelight vigil is tonight (Wednesday).
Thank you for the warning, crownheights.
the legal system failed mike. he shouldnt have been driving that night i dont deny that, but the police and judiciary system should have had something to do with it. we as a society are much too forgiving for duis and it encourages it because the penalties are jokes. based on the quotes from the police report in the times article theres no reason he should have had his license that night. i hope that this tragedy can open peoples eyes to the danger of reckless driving.
Yes, I agree 100% that he should have had his license suspended immediately when he got the DUI. However, it's not the legal system's fault that he was driving that night. He caused the accident – the responsibility is his. His friends (both those in the car, and those at whatever party he came from) should also have known that he was far too drunk (I'm assuming) to drive safely that night.
“i hope that this tragedy can open peoples eyes to the danger of reckless driving.”
Yes, we can hope. You, as a young person, have the most power in this situation. If enough of your peers say NO to this kind of behavior, then it'll stop. You know how much peer pressure works.
dont even try to blame marijuana because if you knew anything about it you know it wouldnt promote somebody to drive fast.
The quality of stewiecrew09's messages make it clear that BHS is failing its students.
thank you that sounds much more polite, im not defending his actions but i dont think that speeding or dui should incur capital punishment thus he didnt deserve it. maybe some jail time but not death.
quality ?
so are you insinuating that because i dont capitalize every proper noun or start of a sentence that ballard failed me? ballard definitely is failing its students in many ways but dont insult me as im willing to bet i have a larger vocabulary and am better than you at most things academic.
im not just talking about suspended licenses or revoking them whatever the time period may be. (for those of you who forgot drivers ed suspended = less that a year, revoked is over a year. ) in other countries people manage to drink all the time and at younger ages because they dont have the stigmas that we have in america and they have much much harsher penalties for dui. i just saw in the paper today that Randy Dorn got a dui and he spent a night in jail. hes in charge of a lot a kids and he gets to come right back to that with little more than a slap on the wrist? that paints a pretty scary picture to kids in school.
What about the mean words the judge would have had for him and the cops when they arrested him?
“would you want people bringing it up all the time? no because that would annoy you”
..and embarrass you. This is how society keeps order my little friend. It's called social pressure. If you don't like it, move somewhere where people won't judge criminal behavior.
thats not the point! the point is all these people are saying things that would be very hurtful if they had been at all close to any of these 3 boys. if your friends died before 21, you wouldnt want a gang of people saying they deserved it, no matter what happened leading up to the crash. 3 lives were lost in senseless fashion and nobody deserves to die because of a drunk driver.
Wow, they really breed them dumb over at BHS. I do know about marijuana and I know:
1. It affects people differently, makes some people mellow, others into a**holes.
2. It is much stronger and more potent than it was 20 years ago and far more intoxicating.
3. When combined with alcohol, makes kids do really stupid things.
dont you ever call me your little friend, as i am neither. judge the behavior all you want just dont put it out there in their families face. it was sunday. these kids havent even had funerals yet nor have tox reports been released so keep your negativity to yourself.
if you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all
theres an expression we all learned as children and its pathetic that all these adults feel the need to comment. i work with elementary school kids and they have more consideration than you.
Well that, and the spelling and grammar. They show the kind of class you have, helps explain why you think driving down Market St at 60mph, drunk and stoned is something we shouldn't judge. I mean, God forbid we judge criminal behavior or correct your English, someone might get offended.
Grow up Stewie.
Wow, threatening violence.
Well, that helps your argument that you're just a group of nice kids who shouldn't be judged.
yes we smoke better weed than most adults have ever seen ill agree with that.
Bark more, Wag less says a few things you don't like and you threaten him? Oh, Stewie. You aren't doing your generation any favors by responding like that. If you're so concerned with the way we are judging your friends for their behaviors then you should really think before you post.
“people break laws all the time its not just us.”
really?
People drive down Market Street at 60 mph, drunk, stoned, without insurance, with a recent DUI, facing a suspended license?
“nobody deserves to die because of a drunk driver”
Exactly our point. He should have been locked up a long time ago.
actually, i'm sorrybark more. i'm really a pussy who like to talk big. it mkaes me feel importent. i also like to to stick large things in my…
You can barely write a coherent sentence. Congratulations on your large vocabulary. Now you should work on stringing those words together in a way that doesn't make you sound like a 15-year-old glue huffer.
Stewie, You one of their tweeker friends?
well stewie, had your friend learned from the FIRST time he wrecked his car, if he had 'thought twice, you would maybe have a point. but he didnt. and now hes dead, and like ive said a billion times before, its sad but it is his fault and we ALL need to be thankful that he didnt hit a person.
a man learns from his mistakes, a boy pretends they never happened.
when the tox reports come out that he was drunk/high/both, i'll be back here asap to say 'i told you so'
this is pretty understandable… the kid has some growing up to do obviously. hes mad.
hes mad because his friend lived life making dumb decisions, got a blessing in disguise (the dui a month ago where thankfully no one was killed), STILL decided to drive recklessly and drunk, and ended up killing himself and two others.
its sad, i know, but your friend did this to himself. made DUMB choices, and paid the ultimate price. thank goodness he didnt take any innocent bystanders with him…
“ballard definitely is failing its students in many ways”
like by not teaching theyre student to NOT drink and drive… ?
hmm…..
if you read the comments on here, no one is OK with Dorn's DUI. its being used to FURTHER the point that more needs to be done to prevent drunk driving. youre arguing the same side here, that his DUI set a bad example.
that being said, your friend CHOSE to not step up and learn from his previous DUI, and is not dead because of that.
legally you do. illegally you dont, but illegally, you also dont HAVE to be sober to drive.
hmmm
how can you say things like this. do you have no feelings. yes they weren't the smartest decisions but in this time where lives have been lost keep these asshole'ish remarks to yourselves. what if your son or daughter died and all someone had to say was ” oh well they weren't that smart serves them right.”
three young man asshole
and you are inconsiderate for posting such a thing. it doesn't matter what website there are ways to talk about the flaws of the system without bashing those recently deceased. i was friends with all three of the men, and although the decisions made that night and in the past weren't the best that gives you no right to talk about them in such a way. you did not know them and one or two mistakes is not enough to judge their whole lives by especially when they were so young.
i third that
agreed. if you have nothing positive to say keep it to your self. or when you pass maybe people will have the same things to say about yourself
jackie his environment is ballard and his family as well. but i'm glad you don't seem to care that they have and ballard has just had a big loss.
Jackie and all others, maybe you should get to know your kids better… you might find out some things that would shock you.
all their parents were all very involved. they worked on cars together in fact they were putting on an addition to the house together up until this happened . how can you say your heart breaks for them and in the same comment say the parents should have charges filed against them. you are going to hell plain and simple. you should not speak on something you clearly know nothing about tasty viddles
i was good friends with the three men. they made the decision to get in the car.. all around bad decisions were made to say the least but you should hold your tongue how would you feel if this were to happen to someone close to you and all someone could say was Way to go dude. you are inconsiderate and from the sounds of it you have never truly faced a real tragedy
This is a horrific event for all involved and a sad one indeed. I am sure most guys my age are thankful they made it out of their late teens and early 20's. It's a numbers game for sure.
The guy was a criminal(a LOT of criminals are “good guys”, “have big hearts” and “would give you the shirt off their back” . Dude had three victims who were most likely aware of his criminal activity prior to the one that took their lives. It seems to me they were all under the influence or didnt care. Thus I am passing judgement on them.
If this was my own criminal negligence… I wouldn't expect anyone especially strangers to spare me criticism or play nice.
you are happy he is dead?!?!?!?! thats what your comments sound like seaspider. how can you possibly say you are happy that someone is dead. people make mistakes, even if it does end in death, you can consider them mistakes. these were my friends you have a cold heart if you can live with yourself after that comment. i know what happened is terrible and everyone wished it hadn't happened. but if he had hit your kid, this probable wouldn't have happened because he would've been in jail… and i would have to say its your kids fault for playing in the street..
thank you kristen. i will do that. im very sorry your car was hit. but it makes me feel better to know that not everyone in this town is a heartless asshole
J-walkers often die, Pete.
I'm not making excuses for their actions, simply pointing out that many of us have been lucky enough to survive our bad decisions.
Kids are stupid, some are lucky enough to live long enough to recognize that.
Next time you J-walk, Pete, you should expect to die and feel lucky when you don't.
i find it hard to believe that you manerequired have never done something reckless that you regret don't blame these kids cause as much as you dont want to hear it kids will make bad mistakes or even stupid mistakes whether parenting is good or not… some kids with crack parents turn out to be politicians or micheal ore and play in the NFL blame the cops for not being around
Keep it up Stewie, I'm sure whatever your great 'career' plans are, mj will help you through the misery of dead end jobs
How's college life?
Nope. Don't buy it for a second. If your parents were involved…then you would NOT have done those things. You got in cars with drunk drivers? Really? Because….you weren't taught that was wrong – or you just didn't care? Either way – your parents didn't TEACH you the right thing to do in that situation. You don't get a pass for doing stupid things just because your a kid. Nope – no way – no how.
Um…yeah…if the parents were so “involved”…how come the driver did nearly the exact same thing a few weeks ago – only he didn't kill anyone that time. Lesson learned? Nope. So, did he live at home, then? With his parents?
If you used some punctuation, people might take you a little more seriously.
stewiecrew09 I FEEL YOU! NO ONE DESERVES TO DIE its plain and its simple if you had a big enough heart you would take things like this up with the government and not post them so everyone can see that your asshole is as big as you are
why do you feel the need to always judge us. i can judge your generation its failing have you seen the economy lately so clearly you aren't one to be doing the judging
Are you confirming that Mike Turner was stoned the morning of the wreck? SPD would like to speak with you. Please provide your name and contact info to the moderator of this board.
Moderator, please forward said info to the SPD.
if i or he felt the need to use capitals and punctuation i would i don't feel the need so i dont and as for being a 15-year-old glue huffer im on my way to being an english major so is the college system failing now too? come up with some better agreements than picking apart my spelling and grammar
i'm one of all of their friends… and if you care to know i've never done any “tweeker drugs” there is more to these men than a few isolated incidents recently maybe if you knew them you'd keep your mouth shut… or hands off the key board… you all keep talking about kids will be kids what about if you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all… my heart goes out to the families of my friends who so tragically have passed on. i send my condolences and hope that you can ignore the ignorance and stupidity of some of the comment posters
You're a f***ing idiot. First my kid was not “playing in the street”. We were standing in a clearly marked CROSSWALK and were half way across on a clear day in broad daylight. He saw and but made ZERO effort to slow down. Hate to break it to you but pedestrians in crosswalks (even unmarked ones, BTW) have the right of way. This kid was easily going double the speed limit and it's VERY clear he didn't give a rats ass about the safety of anyone. So let me be VERY clear: I'm VERY happy your stupid, dangerous, selfish friend is dead. Far better he kill himself than kill some innocent bystander.
You're also clueless to think that if he'd killed a pedestrian he'd be in jail. Sadly, it doesn't work that way. Most of the people who kill people with their cars never spend so much as a night in jail.
Also his driving was NOT a “mistake”. He knew driving 40+ mph on a residential street is wrong but he did it anyway. He chose to drive in an extremely dangerous and highly illegal manner. He knew what he was doing was dangerous and clearly didn't care. Only sad part about this are the other people in the car who died.
Well said BHSmom!
My heart just breaks for the family and friends of these young men. What a tragic loss.
Can we stop referring to this idiot as a “kid” or a “boy”. He was 20 years old – that makes him an adult. A really, astoundingly stupid adult, but still an adult. Excusing his dangerous and criminal behavior as though it were the actions of a 5 year old who doesn't know any better is flat out wrong and irresponsible. How old do you have to be before the “he's just a kid and made a mistake” line doesn't work?
Keep in mind there are thousands of people younger than this idiot serving in the military. Many of them demonstrate the maturity to make life and death decisions on a daily basis. Many more people at this age hold down full-time jobs and act in a responsible manner. At 20 you're an adult whether you like it or not.
If someone in my family had been convicted of rape, I would not go around stating how he/she is such a great person and anyone with a problem with the rape should not say anything.
If anybody does not want to see mention of this event being brought up all the time then they should not be visiting this thread about a murderer. MURDERER.
Do you really think that suspending someone's license keeps people from driving? Do research on how many “driving with a suspended license” tickets are issued.
I forth that…JRD
Did you know the city court website shows how many times Mike has appeared in court and what for?
He's appeared in court more times than these last 2 incidents.
The 16-year-old girl is not a BHS student. She lives on Lopez Island and attends Spring Street School in Friday Harbor (San Juan Island) as an exchange student from Korea. She lives with a family on Lopez Island that let their 17-year-old daughter and the victim go off (God knows why?!) to party with these boys far from home. Ballard is a 45 minute ferry ride and 2-hour car ride from their home. I hope the family of the injured girl sues the “host” family from Lopez Island that carelessly let their underage daughter go off without any supervision. But then again we had a 15-year-old boy here on Lopez kill a man from Canada last summer because he was speeding without a license and he basically just got a slap on the wrist. Parents of young people are to blame. No consequences anymore. And families like mine (I have teens myself) where I am tough and expect high standards of behavior are chastised and called “helicopter” parents. At least our kids aren't killing themselves and others.
taking it to an extreme… youre forgetting HOW i came to that statement: WHEN ONE CHOOSES TO DRINK AND DRIVE they deserve whatever negative consequences are a result of that decision.
thats WAY different than saying “i knew this person and he deserved to die!”
no
i didnt say that at all, and YES theres a difference.
Although it seems that there is plenty of blame to be laid at the feet of the driver in this tragedy, I want to highlight the blame that should rightly be assigned to the greater society, which makes this story so often re-enacted. It is important to be honest about the immense power that peer pressure wields in the lives of young people. It is critical that we as a society act in ways that counter this force so that we can empower young people to make responsible choices. Any honest adult can look back to their child-hood and identify ways that they have acted foolishly. Many of these decisions were influenced by peer pressure. When I was in my mid twenties, I found myself having to make a similar choice to the choice presented to the passengers in this tragedy. I found myself in the backseat of a rental car with two co-workers on a ski trip in Colorado. I was quite surprised and concerned when they decided half-way to the mountain to get a case of beer and start drinking while driving to the mountain. Suddenly I was faced with an unexpected decision to either: say nothing, risk my life, and hope for the best; tell them I thought they were stupid idiots and risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere; or take the keys, inform them I was driving, and hope the rental car company didn't find out. I eventually decided to take the keys, but it wasn't without serious consideration of option one. It scares me to think how easily people can end up in this kind of compromised situation. How much choice did the Korean girl in this accident really have? We as a society must make it so totally unacceptable for someone to ever consider drinking and driving, that young people are empowered to make good choices when confronted with this situation. I can think of at least a half dozen instances in my life when an acquaintance told me a story about having driven drunk. In each of these cases, I silently listened to the story when I should have said, “YOU JACKASS, HOW COULD YOU MAKE SUCH A CALLOUS AND INCONSIDERATE DECISION. YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE!!!” How many of the people reading this post are guilty of the same tacit approval of this behavior? It is time to be more responsible, condemn drunk driving wherever we see or hear about it, and make this behavior truly socially unacceptable.
Every time there is a mention of some “criminal” under the age of 25 a whole bunch of self righteous folks get on here and talk about how it's the parents faults. I grew up in a very supportive household with a mother who was/is a school administrator. To say she was involved is an understatement. She taught me right from wrong, she punished me when I got caught.
At the end of the day that didn't stop me from doing stupid things when I was young. I made poor choices, I smoked dope, I drank in high school and sometimes I got behind the wheel or got into cars with other people who shouldn't have been driving. Those were my choices.
The simple fact is people have free will and make their own choices. This isn't a failure of parenting, the court system or anything else. Unfortunately, these men made a bad decision and paid the ultimate price. Now is not the time to lament a lack of someone else's involvement. A poor choice was made and the ripple effect will go on for some time.
Really? By 24 I'd finished my Masters, had traveled the world, worked abroad for a year, learned two foreign languages and was starting my own successful business. But then again my parents demanded excellence.
I did all this and still enjoyed my wine and some weed, but was never stupid enough to drive while drunk, without insurance at 60 mph in a 30.
Can you provide the link to the city web site?
crownheights said: “You aren't doing your generation any favors by responding like that. ”
I think you hit the nail on the head there. It's definitely a generational thing, and yet all of you 'elders' with such mature minds seem to think you've somehow been absolved of responsibility for the shaping of an entire generation.
Elvis gyrating his hips used to be controversial for your parents, now kids idols openly formulate their style of entertainment based on tales of drug abuse and violence (among numerous other asocial behaviors). All this packaged in a glossy, glorified and extremely attractive fashion.
And guess what it's a lot more intriguing when you try and keep it out of their hands. And when you try and emulate those attitudes and ideals you end up with good kids who do horribly bad things. Any parent who thinks their kid could never be this stupid is just that.
Sure the status of popular culture's not YOUR fault but we are talking about an epidemic among the culture, it's influence and the youth. So your simple fault then most clearly is a lacking of respect for human life and the volatility of those affected by it all.
These boys were influenced by complicated and subjective experiences WHICH YOU ALL HAVE NEVER HAD, so while we all can agree that what they did is wrong, I'm gonna side with the young un's in agreeing that most of ya'll are a**holes.
It's truly sad and slightly unsettling that you can feel okay with yourselves after needling emotionally devastated teenagers over the internet. You really think your vindictive comments will make these kids learn their lessons?
Yes changes need to be made, there is a huge problem and many facets need to be addressed. So how about you go out and try harder to invoke some of that change instead of running your mouths and causing more misery.
“If you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all” For some punk who threatens others on a message board, you sure do watch BAMBI a lot…
“I can think of at least a half dozen instances in my life when an acquaintance told me a story about having driven drunk. In each of these cases, I silently listened to the story when I should have said, “YOU JACKASS, HOW COULD YOU MAKE SUCH A CALLOUS AND INCONSIDERATE DECISION. YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE!!!”
… i DO say that when someone is driving drunk. be it a friend, acquaintance, family member, stranger…
im on here ranting because i actually DO give a crap about drunk driving.
all you know is what you read on the internet good for you
yes i did know and im still his friend. people make bad choices he has made more than enough… but if you would have spent some quality time with him you'd realize he was a good kid. and while i DO NOT condone what happened i think you should keep your negative comments to yourself
your an idiot :)
Dear friends of the deceased- Go away. Go hang out somewhere with other friends or the families of the departed, instead of trying to impose a gag order on a community website that is dedicated to discussing the ramifications of the actions of stupid, irrisponsible criminals where we live. There is a place for you, and it isn't here.
Really? Care to take a closer look at what you just wrote? Seriously, you can't even write a basic sentence.
wat i thot it was purtty good? don you
Good come-back though, I have to hand it to you.
disagree. they SHOULD be reading this, and maybe, in reading our discussions of the ramifications of this guys actions, they'll learn to not make the same mistakes.
or… you shouldnt come on here and read them. youre call
this “all you know is what you have read in the papers” argument doesnt work very well.
even if we KNEW how great of a guy you make him out to be, it wouldnt change the other facts that we know- we KNOW that he killed himself and 2 others due too reckless behavior. we KNOW he had a history or reckless/drunk driving, we KNOW he had been witnessed by the neighborhood speeding multiple times. so we KNOW this was his fault, and he CHOSE not to make better decisions in life. and look what happened.
you should learn from your friends mistakes, so one of your buddies doesnt have to come on here defending you next month…
buddy… dont come on here if you dont want to read negative remarks.
plain and simple.
its a PUBLIC message board. for the most part, its open to whatever comments. it just so happens that, given the nature of this case, there are negative responses and disappointment and anger coming from the community. you have to be pretty dense to not understand why
dont wanna hear it? dont come on here.
much appriciated
good question. i hope they use this as a reason to amp up drunk driving penalties, especially with minors.
Dear Nick's Close Friend….
You have a lot of Life Lessons to hurdle through. Drive safely – that's all I ask. Your friends have just died in a tragic accident. Don't you care? If you value your life and Nick's – just play it safe out there. We were all young once and remember how fragile we were and still are.
I don't hate you or Nick. I just think if you don't value other peoples lives, you don't treasure yours and you're on some suicidal mission, like Turner.
One day – that one day will catch up to you, where your heart and mind will sink to the lowest.
Drive safely and yes, turn down the music so you can hear what's going on around you. With doors and windows closed, we all can hear you coming down 26th, off of 85th.
Sincerely, Not Your Enemy~
(You're right, he should've not squirted water – you weren't there to hear what Nick had to say in return)
Good Luck.
Dear Nick's Close Friend….
You have a lot of Life Lessons to hurdle through. Drive safely – that's all I ask. Your friends have just died in a tragic accident. Don't you care? If you value your life and Nick's – just play it safe out there. We were all young once and remember how fragile we were and still are.
I don't hate you or Nick. I just think if you don't value other peoples lives, you don't treasure yours and you're on some suicidal mission, like Turner.
One day – that one day will catch up to you, where your heart and mind will sink to the lowest.
Drive safely and yes, turn down the music so you can hear what's going on around you. With doors and windows closed, we all can hear you coming down 26th, off of 85th.
Sincerely, Not Your Enemy~ (You're right, he should've not squirted water – you weren't there to hear what Nick had to say)
i also know the kid you are talking about..have lived in the neighborhood for quite a while..his music may be too loud but him and his family are good people…why do your kids play in the street is the question..??the street is for cars!!no yard?? i dont get it….dont judge what you dont know..also, he is not an 18 yr old…keep the children and pets off the street and the cars where the cars should be…makes sense to me….
Because he's your friend you should do & be better, just because you have the privilege to drive, it does not mean be reckless. Have you heard of being respectful, helpful, creative, athletic, etc.
I live on the same block, I saw your friend & you, very fast, very dangerous. If you drive slow enough, the water blasting should not have distracted your friend.
As far as the vulgar comments about the age & music. Your hearing is already damaged, it will get worse & worse. Your crassness will only get you laid by your hand, and then you'll get carpal tunnel.
Grow up!! You want the privilege to drive, you have to be safe & an adult.
From what I've seen, you are a crass little, arrogant, ignorant, full of pimples punk.
You may be a friend, you may be a neighbour. His family may be good. He is definitely an arrogant, little punk. The music can be contained to his car only, not the whole neighbourhood.
The kids play in the street because the street is for pedestrians, bikes, skateboards, shall I go on. You make yourself sound like an intelligent person, don't ask stupid questions.
85th is for higher speeds. The street we live on, is for the locals.
The “kid” should be greener & more concern with the impact he is having on the environmental. I like my environment to be cleaner of smog, noise & definitely vulgarity.
If he'd like to use the street we live on, nobody asked him not to. Be respectful, drive slowly, & lower the blasting noise.
Name (unregistered) wrote, in response to cityslicker72: i also know the kid you are talking about..have lived in the neighborhood for quite a while..his music may be too loud but him and his family are good people…why do your kids play in the street is the question..??the street is for cars!!no yard?? i dont get it….dont judge what you dont know..also, he is not an 18 yr old…keep the children and pets off the street and the cars where the cars should be…makes sense to me…. —————–
——————————–
Do you know or live on our block? No, you do not. Do you know his mouth? I never stated anything about his parent's character. I met his father – he seems like a decent man. My husband met his mother and she seems very sincere. The father came to apologize and I respected that. You don't know what's going on, so please focus your energy on something else. Do you even know what the thread of comments are related to? I haven't seen him for the past couple of days (THANK YOU!!!!), so I think what I did has been quite beneficial for the entire street. If no one speaks up, I'm the one to SCREAM IT OUT – BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED/INJURED BY SOMEONE'S IGNORANCE. Have a pleasant day~
Please folks, do all these “kids”, a favor. Do us all a favor. If you see reckless driving, loud music, maybe drunk driving, take the license plate number & call the cops.
Thank you, CitySlicker.
As for, who's at fault, we all are. We have become way too accepting of recklessness, be active, pro-active, not post-active.
wow pimples punk…???who needs to grow up??????u talk like a goober
and why do you have to use names like pimples punk???nobody who is an adult does that…none of these responses have done that to you….still not sure of the maturity level here…
and why do you have to use names like pimples punk???nobody who is an adult does that…none of these responses have done that to you….still not sure of the maturity level here…
Ironic,.. I guess the kid still needs some maternal protection.
Get over it, Ballrdgal, this is a kid who's ego is way too arragont. I'm just saying, look in the mirror kid, wipe your nose, afterwhich pay some respect to others who are not basing their vocabulary on “AutoTheft Games”.
not sure why you are so angry and aggressive….just trying to be a good neighbor and make an effort to get along…we all have to live here and i too have small children and pets..but i try to work with not against..i have nieces and nephews who are teens, and while they may not be perfect, they still deserve some decency..peace
absolutely true..thank you
Angry? Aggressive?
After seeing what's happened, and you “a mom”, are making light of a vulgar punk. A “kid” who should not be behind the wheel of a car.
You ignorant, accepting individuals, (I am not referring to you specifically), turn off the chatting, go to your neighbour, who's kid speeds, drives reckless and ask him to behave.
Be a good neighbour, mind the neighbourhood, not a kid who's rude & aggressive himself.
As a neighbour of the incident, and one who's been criticized as well by same neighbour, listen & stop trying to seem mightier than me, or us.
Be active, be aggressive, be heard. Make your kids, nieces, nephews, any kid with his nose up, playing video games, hear you, engage them into trips, sports, etc.
I do not find what's just happened to be a bad mistake, or a bad choice, I find it to be a result of today's lack of concern, I find it to be my fault, your fault, all of today's parents which are way too accepting.
please enough already…the kid is NOT a punk…and i am a GREAT neighbouuurrr(neighbor)just a little kinder and gentler..the end