Child was driving pickup truck that struck golfers’ van in Texas, killing 9: NTSB (nypost.com)
I was so sad when I learned about this accident. However, finding out that a 13 year old was driving the pick-up truck that slammed into the van is just sickening. So horrible.
I’m gutted by this information
Definitely makes a sad story even sadder. A 13 year old driving at speeds of 75mph or possibly greater, and doing that speed on a spare tire.
I wonder if the man with him was his father, and if so, was he letting the lad drive or if he was impaired or what.
Regardless of the answers, there are no do-overs. Way too many people lost their lives over those bad decisions (spare tire at high speed and inexperience/ineligible driver). It’s super, super sad.
The article I read stated that the 13 year old was with his father. They were going to pick up a new car. I have not read any indication of impairment with the father.
Sad. Now both of them are dead too - needlessly, esp if they had gotten a real tire instead of driving at full speed on a spare.
My head is going to explode I’m so angry. On a spare, letting a 13 y.o. drive, and probably going too fast. So much needless loss.
Sickening.
I feel sorrow for all. Absolutely unnecessary.
The rumor here in the town where two of the students are in the hospital is that the father was impaired. I can’t think how anyone would put a 13 y/o behind the wheel on a spare tire and then allow the kid to speed so fast. How could a normal functioning father make such an incredible terrible decision without being impaired? Beyond Sickening.
This story just keeps getting worse
Unfortunately, the reality is the idiot adults sometime hurt more than themselves.
Apparently, the speed limit on that two lane undivided road was 75mph. Two lane undivided roads do not leave much room for error, especially at speeds that high. Throw in a presumably not-very-skilled-or-experienced 13-year-old driver, and the chance for error is high.
News reports did say that the spare tire was a full size spare tire (which is expected on a 3/4-ton pickup), but the way people often (do not) maintain their vehicles, it would not be surprising if it were underinflated and/or of questionable reliability due to age (the pickup was a 2007 model).
(Now everyone is going into the garage to check the condition and air pressure of the spare tires in their cars…)
So sad. It reminded me about 4 years ago in Canada there were 16 junior ice hockey players were killed when the driver of the semi-trailer had failed to yield at a flashing stop sign at the intersection. I also learned from the news about this 13-year-old who burned down the family house before Christmas when he made some eggs and forgot about it.
A 13-year-old driving a truck, on a spare, at highway speeds, on an undivided two-lane stretch…
AT NIGHT. This happened after 8 p.m.
Another sad part is knowing if the golf team had only spent 5 minutes more, or less, talking/packing/whatever they’d have missed the crash. The spare tire/kid driver might have still killed themselves (maybe not without the impact), but the innocent folks would have definitely survived. There was no way of knowing - pure bad luck with that aspect.