Teen Who Had License Just 15 Days Mows Down 8 High School Classmates With His Truck

I haven't done a teen driver story for awhile, and this one is a few days old, but as I read the details I knew it fight the criteria for the kind of teen driver stories I've run several times.

The CHP announced Monday June 4 that the driver of the modified pickup truck that plowed into a group of students leaving Hemet High School was speeding at more than 50 mph at the time of crash. Their investigation also ruled out the possibility of brake failure. The case will be forwarded to DA’s office for consideration of criminal charges.

Hemet school district officials said that one student remained hospitalized following a May 30 accident outside Hemet High School.

The student, Helen Richardson, was a freshman at Hemet High this year. She is still in critical condition, said Lucy Rebuck, the district’s top safety director.

Richardson was among eight students who were hit by a truck, driven by 18-year-old Hemet High junior Daniel Carrillo, as they crossed Stetson Avenue at Bulldog Way after school.

Rebuck said that the seven other students who were hospitalized have all been released. Three of those — including Richardson — were originally listed in critical condition with head injuries after the truck ran them over.

It's pretty simple - he was showing off and got himself into a situation beyond his limited driving ability. A classic case of a kid whose ego and equipment overmatched his skills.

I've also seen several stories this week of teens dying in crashes right before their graduation.  What a shame.

CHP Photo Leak Costs Taxpayers $2.4 Million

One of the most searched stories I've ever done came as a result of an automobile accident on Halloween day, 2006, when a Porsche driven by an 18-year old crashed at very high speed into a toll booth.  CHP employees leaked grisly photos from the accident which found their way onto the internet and precipitated a wave of cyber bullying and additional pain for the family.  I've done several posts on the subject, including the fact that most of the people who find my post via Google are usually trying to find the grisly photos (which I've never run or linked to), and now there's been a resolution in the case against the CHP:

Ending a 4½-year court battle that rewrote state law, a Ladera Ranch family tormented by grisly accident photos of their daughter on the Internet has settled a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol for leaking images that went viral worldwide.

The CHP agreed to pay the family of Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras $2.375 million Friday after a judge ordered the two sides to talk ahead of a jury trial scheduled for March, CHP spokesman Fran Clader said.

The deal puts an end to an emotionally charged legal drama waged by Lesli and Christos Catsouras on behalf of their daughter, Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras.

Nikki's horribly disfigured remains are permanently on display on hundreds of websites after an Oct. 31, 2006, crash that left the 18-year-old nearly decapitated.

On top of the grief of losing the eldest of their four daughters, Lesli and Christos Catsouras say they and their three surviving daughters have had to endure a never-ending nightmare of knowing that a click of a mouse can unknowingly bring up ghastly images of Nikki on their computer screen.

"The family was compensated for the emotional pain and suffering associated with the release of the photos," Catsouras family attorney Keith Bremer said. "The CHP came to the table with significant funds in an effort to resolve this case and remove any chances of a monumental verdict."

This case has basically changed the law as it pertains to photos of a deceased person who is not considered a celebrity or someone whose likeness after death would have some particular value. Unfortunately, the internet makes is possible to spread images far and wide very quickly, and makes them equally hard to get rid of once they're out there. The grisly photos in question are still being put on websites and that's a shame.

Professional law enforcement needs to be more careful with the images they take of crime and accident scenes, and I'm sure this case will have an impact.

Speed Costs Legs and a Life

I haven't posted anything in the "Teen Drivers" category for awhile, but this one deserves a mention:

An 18-year-old Tustin man was killed and five others were injured when their car hit a tree off Santiago Canyon Road near Irvine Lake early Sunday, authorities said.

The Orange County Coroner's Office posted on its website that one of the passengers, Jorge Cisneros of Tustin, died at a hospital about two hours after the accident. He turned 18 three days before the crash. The condition of the remaining five people who were in the car is not known.

The vehicle split in two and the front half of it wrapped around the tree, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Marc Stone said. One person was also wrapped around the tree with the wreckage, and it took more than an hour to remove him from the vehicle with special equipment. That person's legs were severed in the accident, Stone said.

Three of the passengers were tossed more than 50 feet from the vehicle down an embankment toward Irvine Lake, Stone said. The lake and accident site are in unincorporated Orange County just east of Cowan Heights.

The passengers and the driver were young men, Stone said. All six of the people who were in the vehicle were taken to local hospitals as trauma victims. Paramedics transported two victims each to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, UCI Medical Center in Orange and Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

That's a bad area for high speed and inexperienced drivers.

18-Year Old Driver Kills 16-Year Old Runner

A sad addition to the Teen Driver library:

An 18-year-old driver has been arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run after a 16-year-old Notre Dame High School student was struck and killed while running with his Cross Country team in Sherman Oaks.

Conor Lynch was running on city streets around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday with teammates near Woodman Avenue and Addison Street.

Most of the runners crossed the street on a green light.

However, witnesses say Lynch, who was trailing behind the runners, may have attempted to cross the street in a crosswalk after the light turned red.

He was struck by a Hyundai Santa Fe sport utility vehicle driven by 18-year-old Moran Biton, police said.

Had the 18-year old driver not panicked and left the scene she probably woudn't be in any trouble at all since it appears the runner tried to cross against the light. But leaving the scene of an injury accident, even if it's not the driver's fault, is a felony. Stupid mistake.

Around here I see kids running all the time, often on busy streets. During cross country season there will sometimes be large groups of kids running along the major roads. Some PE classes also send kids out along the local roads. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Father Sent Graphic Video of His Dead Daughter

Somebody's going to pay for this:

Almost three months after his daughter died, a Georgia father received a graphic cell phone video taken by a firefighter that shows his daughter's fatal injuries.

Jeff Kempson tells WAGA-TV that he doesn't understand why a firefighter would have taken that video of his daughter, 23-year-old Dayna Kempson-Schacht. She died July 17 when her car crashed into trees.

The Spalding County Sheriff's office said a county firefighter took the video on his personal cell phone and shared it with other firefighters. An unknown firefighter took the video to a bar, where he texted it to other patrons. From there, the video spread.

Investigators said they don't believe taking or sharing that video broke the law. But the county is investigating whether internal rules were violated.

This is very reminiscent of an accident that occurred near here three years ago this month when another young woman lost her life in a tragic accident. Official CHP photos of the terribly mangled girl were emailed by a CHP employee and those photos spread, were posted on websites, and sent via cellphone to the girl's family members.  The family currently has a lawsuit going against the CHP.

Hey Look, I Got My License! Uh-oh

Another worthy addition to my teen driver collection:

A teenager who just passed his driving test crashed into a state driver license center in western Pennsylvania.

The accident happened Wednesday afternoon as the teen was trying to leave the parking lot of a driver license center in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville. Officials say at least three people were injured, but their injuries were not considered serious.

Township police Sgt. Brian Halbleib told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the accident happened when the teen pulled into the parking lot of the driver license center to drop off the man who had administered the test. Halbleib says the teen thought the car was in park but it wasn't.

I'm guessing he'll get the chance to try that again.

Teen Drivers and Aggression

Having done a number of posts involving teen drivers and high speed accidents, this story seemed like a natural fit for HolyCoast.com:

Teenagers driving a pickup truck are 100 percent more likely to be severely injured during a crash than a teen of the same age driving a car.

New research also finds that it is more dangerous for a driver regardless of age to have one teenage passenger in the vehicle instead of two or three, perhaps because with one passenger a driver feels an obligation to entertain or stay focused on their passenger.

Details of the study by Chandra Bhat, professor of transportation engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, are published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Bhat’s study is the first of its kind to examine how aggressive driving behavior—as well as other driving factors like time of day and number of passengers in a vehicle—relates to the severity of injuries sustained during a traffic accident.

The research adds to the ongoing public dialogue to find measures to counter aggressive driving and improve driver safety, especially among teenagers for which the leading causes of death are vehicle crashes.

The study’s other key findings include:

• Drivers tend to be the most aggressive during morning rush hour, due to time pressures to reach their office or school as well as closer vehicle spacings.
• Young adults are likely to continue driving aggressively until about 20 years of age, when accompanied by other young adults.
• Drinking and driving is the deadliest combination for teen drivers and a parental lack of involvement may be a contributing factor in this.
• When it comes to aggressive driving behavior, a 16-17 year old is 368 percent more likely to drive aggressively than those 65 or older, while a teen just a couple of years older is only 195 percent more likely. In short, the younger a teen is, the more likely he/she will drive aggressively.

The sad thing is that parents with teens that don't drive like idiots still have to pay the ridiculous auto insurance rates until they qualify as an experienced driver (usually three years after they get their license).

Teens in Fatal Crash in Westminster

It looks like I'm going to have another sad entry in my "Teen Drivers" posts.  I was listening to the fire department channel this afternoon and heard a call for a "TC Cut & Rescue" in Westminster involving a truck down in a flood control channel with a person trapped.  Upon arriving at the scene the first engine in confirmed that two victims were out of the truck but one was trapped between the truck and the bottom of the channel.  According to the radio it appeared to be a "traumatic full arrest" but they couldn't even get to the patient until the truck was moved.  "Traumatic full arrest" is firefighter-speak for someone who has been killed in an accident.

Details are starting to come out and from TV reports it sounds like these were three kids from a local Westminster-area high school.  I graduated from the other Westminster-area high school (La Quinta) a very long time ago but this still hits a little close to home.  From The OC Register:

One person died after the driver of a pickup lost control and rolled the vehicle into a flood-control channel, police said.

Officers responded to the fatal traffic accident near Rancho Road and Spa Drive about 3 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

"It appears to be a solo vehicle accident where the driver lost control, drove through a chain-link fence and dropped into the flood-control channel," Westminster officer Van Woodson said.
The channel has vertical sides and an approximately 20-foot drop, Woodson said. The pickup landed at an angle, partially on its side and partially on its roof.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene, Woodson said. It wasn't immediately clear if the person was the driver or a passenger in the pickup.

Two other people were taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries.

The accident site is not far from Westminster High, and the time of the accident would be consistent with students heading home from school. More info as it becomes available.

UPDATE:  KNBC identifies the fatality as 18-year old Kody Kessler from Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach.

One person was killed and two others were hurt Wednesday when a driver lost control of a Chevrolet pickup truck and crashed into a flood-control channel, Westminster police said. All three in the pickup attended local high schools.

The truck rolled and crashed into the flood-control channel at Rancho Road and Spa Drive about 3 p.m., Westminster police Officer Van Woodson said.

Kody Kessler, 18, of Westminster, was declared dead at the scene by arriving rescuers. Kessler attended Ocean View High School, Van Woodson said.

Two other teens crawled out of the pickup and climbed to the top of the flood-control channel. Neighbors helped the teens get over a hurricane fence.

Van Woodson described the injuries of the two survivors as non-life threatening.

Westminster police said Jared Von Grote, 18, of Huntington Beach and a Marina High School student was the driver of the pickup.

Kristopher Howell, 18, of Huntington Beach and an Ocean View High School student was the second passenger in the pickup.

Stunt Driving Video of the Day

What happens when you lose control of your car going 100 mph and hit a guardrail and bridge overpass?  A lot of bad things:

Another Teen Versus Tree Accident

Unfortunately, I have to add to my Teen Driver posts with another accident involving local teens, speed and fixed objects:

A well-liked El Toro High student is fighting for his life at CHOC Children's at Mission Hospital after being critically injured in a car crash Saturday.

Brent Sirignano, 17, of Lake Forest is in a medically-induced coma and is in critical condition according to hospital sources.

"Doctors say he is in survival mode," said Barrie Wellman, who with his wife was one of the first at Mission Hospital's ER after the accident.

The single car crash – in which Sirignano was a passenger – happened at 1:50 p.m. Saturday on Hidalgo near the intersection of Vista Del Lago in Mission Viejo, said Lt. Mike Gavin, chief of police services for the city.

"Deputies responded to the scene and found a 2006 Scion that had collided, passenger side first, into a tree," Gavin said. "The driver and passenger were trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated by Orange County Fire Authority."

According to witness reports, the 17-year-old driver, also of Lake Forest, appeared to be driving at an excessive speed when the car lost traction and slid across the roadway crashing into the tree, Gavin said. The two El Toro High students were transported to Mission Hospital. Kalmen was uninjured.

Blood tests were taken from the driver to check whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident, Gavin said. The Sheriff's Department Major Accident Reconstruction Team responded to the scene. The investigation is ongoing.

I really hate these things, but I post them in hopes that others will read about them and learn something important.

Family Can Sue CHP Over Death Photos

In what is probably still the most Google searched story I've ever done, the family of a local girl killed in a high speed crash on Halloween Day of 2006 has won the right to sue the CHP officials who released gory photos of the crash:

In a groundbreaking ruling in a case involving ghoulish death images, an appellate court has reversed a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol and two of its employees for leaking photos of a decapitated teenager onto the Internet.

The opinion, by the 4th District Court of Appeal (Division 3) in Santa Ana, is certified for publication, meaning it stands to rewrite state law concerning the privacy rights of surviving family member when it comes to death images of a decedent.

The ruling, made public today, also means that the family of Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras can proceed with their civil action against the CHP, which admitted to improperly disseminating pictures of the 18-year-old's remains following a high-speed crash on a toll road in Lake Forest on Oct. 31, 2006.

"The entire Catsouras family is ecstatic with the court's findings," said family attorney Keith G. Bremer of Bremer, Whyte, Brown & O'Meara in Newport Beach. "The family is pleased that it will now be afforded the opportunity to confront the CHP and the officers with their actions and request that each be held responsible."

In sometimes stinging language, the panel of three justices, in their 64-page ruling, said the Catsouras family, of Ladera Ranch, is on solid legal ground in pursuing damages for negligence, invasion of privacy, and infliction of emotional distress – causes of action that Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven L. Perk tossed out in March 2008.

The appellate court did, however, back Perk in dismissing legal arguments that the family's civil rights were violated.

I certainly have to side with the family on this one. The photos never should have gotten out. I did see them and they were gruesome beyond belief. No parent should have to remember their child that way, regardless of the circumstances that led to the accident.

Christmas Eve Takes a Tragic Turn in Newport Beach

I was listening to the fire department radio when this call came in. You could hear the seriousness of the situation in the voices of the responding firefighters. :

One person was dead Thursday evening after a Ferrari crashed into a tow truck in Newport Beach and burst into flames.

The accident happened on Pacific Coast highway at Bayside at 5:12 p.m.

Two people were trapped in the sports car.

One was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The other person in the Ferrari was extricated from the vehicle and taken to Western Regional Medical Center in critical condition with severe burns.

Two people in the tow truck suffered minor injuries.

PCH at Bayside will be closed for several hours while an investigation is underway.

The first report from a firefighter at the scene was he had two victims, one appears to be breathing, one doesn't. It was pretty clear this was going to be a bad one.

If you're traveling tonight or tomorrow, be safe.

UPDATE: A photo of what's left from The OC Register:

UPDATE: Another report from the LA Times:

One man was killed and another is clinging to life after their Ferrari jumped a center median on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach and crashed into a flatbed truck coming from the opposite direction.

The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. today, resulting in an ongoing traffic closure shutting off Pacific Coast Highway between Bayshore Drive and Jamboree Road. The highway is likely to remain blocked for hours, said Sgt. Jerry Lowe of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the Ferrari to spin out and then cross the center divider, which, in that section of the highway is either a raised curb or a median strip, said Sgt. Evan Sailor, public information officer for the Newport Beach police.

"The Ferrari broke into several pieces," Sailor said. "There's debris everywhere. The vehicle was engulfed in flames when the first officer arrived on the scene."

Eighteen firefighters from the Newport Beach Fire Department worked to douse the fire and rescue the two men trapped in the Ferrari

The passenger died at the scene. Rescue workers used special equipment to extract the driver. He was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he's listed in critical condition.

The two occupants of the truck were taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach to be treated for minor to moderate injuries.

UPDATE January 5: The driver was an 18-year old teenager who is still in critical condition:

Police have named the driver of a Ferrari that crashed Dec. 24 killing a passenger.

Luicci Nader, 18, of Huntington Beach, was the driver of the gray 2008 F-430 Spider that crashed into a tow truck, split in two, and caught fire, police said.

Alcohol was not involved but speed was.

Another Teen Driver Tragedy

I don't normally do these stories unless they're in my local area, but I'm making an exception in this case because I've very familiar with the location of the accident. My wife and I passed through this very intersection twice during our trip to my daughter's college last weekend:

A Sonoma mother and father and their two young children were killed when their minivan was struck by a speeding teenager Saturday night.

The Maloney family had just spent their thanksgiving vacation in Hawaii. They were driving home from the airport in their minivan Saturday night when they had the green light on Highway 37.

California Highway Patrol investigators say 19-year-old Steven Culbertson was supposed to stop at the red light on Lakeville Highway, but instead of stopping, he clipped a Honda CRV and flew through the intersection.

"Witnesses put his speed at anywhere from 70-90 mph," Officer Jon Sloat said.

John Maloney, his wife Susan and their two children, 8-year-old Aiden and 5-year- old Grace, were all pronounced dead at the scene.

At their now empty Sonoma home flowers lay on the doorstep.

"The whole family gone, the whole family gone, it's just terrible," neighbor Adele Ney said.

Ney had known the Maloney's for 10 years.

John was the vice president of a Novato solar company. He also has a teenage daughter who was not with them in the car Saturday night.

"It's just terrible, they were such a nice couple, I mean perfect neighbors, he was such a nice guy," Ney said.

The driver of the Honda was too distraught to talk on camera, but told ABC7 he was the first to arrive on scene. His brother, a doctor, was also with him and tried to perform CPR on Susan Maloney, but it was too late.

The crash left Culbertson brain dead. He died Sunday at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The problem is Culbertson was probably brain dead before the crash. Otherwise he wouldn't have been going 90 at that location.

Sonoma is a beautiful little town with some neighborhoods of very nice homes belonging to professionals from around the area. It was also the location of the 2009 HGTV Dream Home. We try to stop in Sonoma every chance we get, and visited the town on Nov. 21 when we stopped at Train Town.

It's a sad day in Sonoma.

Train Versus Teen Drivers

A sad new entry into the roster of teen drivers making bad decisions:

Fourteen-year-old Jessica Sadler wanted to go to the beach with her boyfriend on a warm summer day, but her mother said no, absolutely not. She had better come home or she would be in big trouble.

Jessica never made it home.

She and the four young men with her in a car were killed Thursday when the driver — a 19-year-old with a suspended license — sped around a lowered railroad crossing gate and past the flashing warning lights in an attempt to beat a train. The car was broadsided.

Tammy Sadler, who had been mad at her daughter for spending the night at a friend's house without calling to tell her, recalled her final conversation with Jessica, less than an hour before the wreck.

"She asked me what I was doing. I told her I was watching TV, told her she was going to be in trouble for not being here. She said, `Can I go to the beach?' I said no," Sadler said Friday, her voice breaking. "She said, `We'll just grab a bite to eat, then I'll be home,' and I said, `OK.' ... She didn't make it."

On a surveillance video released by police, the car never slowed as it approached the crossing about 20 miles west of Detroit. It drove right past a stopped SUV, just before the Amtrak train rushed through around 12:30 p.m.

Canton Township police awaited toxicology tests on the driver and the other victims, but spokesman Sgt. Mark Gajeski said: "There is no indication alcohol or anything else was involved other than bad judgment."

As is often the case in teen driving accidents. That and out-of-control kids, of which there's no shortage in this story.

Laughable Lawsuit of the Day

See if you can figure out where this lawsuit goes off the road, so to speak:

HUNTINGTON BEACH – A year after a 14-year-old boy was killed in a car crash in Huntington Beach, the boy's family has filed a lawsuit against the city saying stop signs at the intersection of the collision were not clearly visible.

The lawsuit filed March 5 in Orange County Superior Court alleges that injuries and wrongful death were caused by a "dangerous condition of public property."

City officials said there was nothing wrong with the stop signs and if a driver is speeding it could be difficult to see the signs.

Phoenix Nguyen, of Garden Grove, was in a 1995 Acura on Bushard Street when the driver ran a stop sign at Banning Avenue March 15 last year. The Acura collided with a 2003 Cadillac Escalade driven by a dad taking his three sons and a 5-year-old girl to a birthday party....

Acura driver Ty Van Nguyen told police that he decided to "show off" his new car and was driving 75 to 80 mph on Bushard which has a 45 mph speed limit. He said he didn't see the stop sign at the intersection, according to a police report of the incident.

Ty Van Nguyen was convicted of vehicular manslaughter Dec. 8.

Yeah, it was the stop sign's fault.

And just today we have this:

TRABUCO CANYON - Two people are reported to have been killed after crashing into a tree on Trabuco Canyon Road, authorities said.

Witnesses reported two people trapped inside a car at 1:41 p.m., after the car crashed about a half mile north of O'Neill Park, said California Highway Patrol officer Denise Quesada.

Skid marks from vehicle, about 300 feet long, marked the spot where the car skidded off the road and crashed, wrapping the wreckage of the car around a tree. High speed is suspected to have played a factor in the crash.

Capt. Greg McKeown of the Orange County Fire Authority said two males, ages 16 and 18, were killed in the crash. Their identities have not been released.

“This road is a windy road and it doesn't lend itself to high speeds,” McKeown said.

Witnesses reported that a silver or gray Ford Mustang crashed into a tree, then caught fire, Quesada said.

When firefighters arrived on scene there were no flames, McKeown said.

The Mustang was wrapped around the tree and appeared to have been headed northbound before crashing into the tree.

I wonder if there was a stop sign out there too?

Teens Plus Speed Takes a Toll Again

Two more teens have died in a high speed local accident:

Two 19-year-old men were killed early Sunday in a car crash in Mission Viejo, according to authorities.

Wet roads and excessive speed are being blamed Sunday morning for a crash that took the lives of two 19-year-old men in Mission Viejo, according to authorities.

The crash occured about 3:30 a.m. on Los Alisos Boulevard.The car was headed west when the driver apparently lost control west of Trabuco Road. The car veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Kurt Vesentine said both victims died at the scene.

Their names were withheld pending notification of their next of kin. The lieutenant said wet roads and speeding were thought to have been contributing factors in the crash.

I hope I don't recognize those names when they're released.

I've heard it said that nothing good happens after midnight. Add in wet roads and high speed and that statement almost becomes a guarantee.

UPDATE:

MISSION VIEJO – The second man killed in a crash early Sunday morning on Los Alisos Boulevard was identified Monday.

Alexander Hugard, 19, of Mission Viejo was the passenger of a 2004 Kia driven by Andrew Gorum, 19, also of Mission Viejo. Previous reports from the coroner stated Hugard as the driver.

Hugard was in the same 2007 Mission Viejo High School graduating class as my daughter, but I don't think she knew him.

Street Racing Claims Another Life

Another addition to the teen driver+speed file - something that certainly didn't have to happen:

MISSION VIEJO – An 18-year-old man was killed Friday after his car flipped several times, then slammed into a light pole and a tree during a street race with another car, police said.

Jose Merino Pacheco of Mission Viejo was pronounced dead at 11:48 p.m. on Friday night at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, according to the Coroner.

The accident occurred about 10:37 p.m. at Olympiad Road near Jeronimo Road, but it was unknown which directions the cars were traveling or how fast they were going, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Hal Brotheim.

The 18-year-old Mission Viejo man had three passengers in a 2001 Volkswagon Jetta during the street race against a 17-year-old driver in a 2008 Scion TC, Brotheim said. That driver's name was not released because he's a minor.

One of the passengers suffered moderate injuries, and the other two were not injured at all.

Hopefully it wasn't a kid from Mission Viejo High.

Turning Two Cars Into Four Cars

We had two new entries in one night in our "Teen Drivers+Speed+Immovable Objects" category. First, from Orange County:

TUSTIN - One teenager is dead and another was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence after a violent crash on Newport Avenue early Thursday morning, authorities said.

When officers from the California Highway Patrol arrived at the scene of the crash at about 2:40 a.m., they found the 1998 Mercedes-Benz that a 17-year-old boy had been driving sheared in half, said CHP officer Jennifer Hink.

Mackenzie Frazee, a 16-year-old Tustin resident who was a passenger in the car, was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where she died from her injuries. The driver of the car is being treated for moderate injuries at the same hospital and is expected to be booked at Juvenile Hall, Hink said.

And, from Eagle Rock:

A suspected street race Wednesday night in Eagle Rock killed three people, including a pregnant woman and her teenage sister, after their car was struck by another vehicle, slammed into a tree and burst into flames, police said.

Rostislav Shnayder, 19, of Eagle Rock, who was driving a white Mitsubishi Eclipse, was later arrested and booked on suspicion of murder in connection with the accident.

He was uninjured.

Los Angeles Police Department Det. Felix Padilla, who is investigating the crash, said three cars were seen speeding westbound on Colorado Boulevard when the Mitsubishi collided with a black Nissan Maxima, causing it to slam into the tree. He said officials were searching for the third vehicle, described only as a "small white car."

Witnesses said the cars were traveling at "dangerous" speeds, Padilla said. "We're going by witness accounts that the cars were racing," he said.

The crash occurred about 10:30 p.m. near the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Highland View Avenue. The Mitsubishi, traveling about 70 mph, appeared to lose control and hit the Nissan traveling in front of it, police said. Five people were in the Nissan.

The Nissan's driver, Cristyn Nicole Cordova, 19, and her sister, Toni Marie Cordova, 16, both of Eagle Rock, were killed instantly, said Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Police earlier incorrectly gave the ages of the female victims as 23 and 12. The coroner's office confirmed their ages as 19 as 16.

Police said Cordova was pregnant, and friends said she was expected to give birth next month.

Jason Timothy Gomez Hernandez, 19, a family friend who was seated in the center rear seat of the Nissan, was ejected and killed instantly, police said.

Carlos Alberto Campos, 19, Cordova's boyfriend, was ejected from the front passenger seat. He has multiple fractures and is in critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, police said.

Andrew Cordova, 15, the women's younger brother who was seated in the right back seat, was also ejected and sustained multiple injuries and is listed in critical condition at Huntington Memorial, officials said.

Campos and Andrew Cordova had limbs severed in the crash.

I heard a local radio show talking about the second wreck and suggesting that they should have left the wreckage in place and bused every high school kid in the area over there to see it. Not a bad idea. School often have these mock accidents they stage on campus, but there's nothing quite so sobering as seeing the real thing.

We're coming up on the one year anniversary of a similar crash that occurred right near my home and sort of inspired continuing posts on this subject as these crashes occur. I keep hoping somebody will see these and think twice about street racing or driving stupid.

Another Entry in our Teen Driver + Speed + Stupidity File

The hits just keep a'comin':

YORBA LINDA Eight people, many of them teenagers, were injured, two critically, when a 2000 Toyota Sienna sped away from officers called to a party and rolled over in a Yorba Linda field, according to Brea Police Sgt. Bill Smyser.
Brea Police had responded to a report of loud music in the 20000 block of Via Natalie. Eight people were in the minivan driving away from the scene, when the 16-year-old driver stopped as he approached Officer Eric Oden, and instead clipped the officer with the driver-side mirror and took off, Smyser said.

The van, reaching speeds up to 80 mph, was pursued by the Brea officers. It headed south on Fairmont at La Palma, but as it reached the t-intersection it was traveling too fast to make the turn. The van hit the south curb and was launched down a 10 to 15-foot slope, rolling over onto a field at Yorba Regional Park, Smyser said. All the injured passengers were able to get out of the car on their own power, he said, but the two critically injured were only able to crawl five or 10 feet away. "All of them are very lucky to be alive," Smyser said.

Anaheim Fire responded to the crash and took the injured to the hospital. Their conditions are not known at this time.

The driver and an 18-year-old passenger ran off after the crash but were found hiding in a carport of a nearby Anaheim apartment complex. The driver suffered head and hand injuries, and the passenger had head, neck and arm injuries.

The driver has been arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, according to Brea Lt. Jerry Brakebill.

Let's count the things that make this a problem:

1. A 16-year old driver is not allowed to have other teenagers in his car without an adult over 25 joining them.


2. Teen drivers are not allowed to drive between 11pm and 5am for the first year.


3. Clipping a cop with your car while trying in to escape is considered "assault on a peace officer", a very serious felony.


4. Evading the police is a serious offense, even if you don't hit the cop.


5. Speeding in a loaded minivan is just plain dumb. The high center of gravity almost assures you of a rollover in a high speed turn.


6. Where were his parents?

What do you bet he ran because he was afraid to get a ticket?

SafeRoadMaps.org

Since the major discussion around here since last Thursday has involved the son of a prominent pastor who was killed in a high-speed crash, it seems an appropriate time to discover a new online source: SafeRoadMaps.org. This Google Earth-based feature shows where fatal accidents have occurred and gives details on a variety of factors such as speed, alcohol, seatbelt usage and other factors that might have come into play. You can look at your own area or anyplace in the country where you might be traveling to see what the fatal accident history has been.