I hear you, Matty. For what it's worth, all of us here have decided to strap ourselves into one of the most iconic cars ever made and certainly the most iconic car built this century. So headlines like this under these circumstances are inevitable.

But I also wonder... Is there more of a problem with younger drivers pushing the limits of MINIs in California? I don't see that many 19 year olds in MINIs here...

 

You make it sound like the kid was driving a Ferrari. Its just a MINI, a regular car. Any crazy teenager with a Corolla can reach speeds of 100mph and kill someone.

I said it on MU and i'll say it here. The car wasn't part of the issue, the driver was. An issue with parenting and discipline in my opinion. Still sad either way.

 

Just because he was an idiot, why does it make him spoiled automatically? Yes, he made a very bad decision and he paid for it.

What if the kid worked his *** of and bought the car? Am I spoiled because I bought myself a Vette when I was 16 and a brand new MINI for my 17th birthday?

NAM these days, I swear to god.

 

Horribly sad. Kids will always be kids and every once in a while they get really unlucky and stupid at the same time. It's hard to really ingrain risk aversion when their brain is not ready. I drove a slow car (minivan) quite fast when I was 16. I proved it was better to be lucky than good. I was raised with strong moral values and regard for others I felt, but sometimes I lapsed as a teenager. The best parenting can't prevent this IMHO. I still can't believe they allow us to drive when we're 16 and even younger, especially since car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens. For the good of society vs our selfish indulgences, no reason any of us really should be driving over the speed limit in our overjuiced cars on the streets. Just like why kitchen knives shouldn't be pointed. We only need to cut, not stab. When cars are more automated with speed limiters and avoidance mechanisms, maybe things will get better. I know I could use a "nanny" every once and a while.

 

The accident was tragic for all those involved, especially for the family being at the wrong place and time.

I find it odd the comments about the Mini being highlighted. Any notable car would be mentioned and IMO it is not in any way the main or even secondary story. Second, I agree with the comments regarding the poor judgement of the 19 yo. It's not about being entitled or what someone earned. It's about having the judgement and maturity to drive responsibly. The fact is younger drivers are in more accidents than their older brethren. I certainly wouldn't encourage a younger driver having any car with sporty pretensions. I think it is fair to say we have all read posts on these forums where we question or cringe at the actions or judgement written in some posts.

 

I agree. Most young people tend to take dangerous risks in the first few years of driving. It is exciting to have control of a vehicle and more exciting to drive it very fast. Many drivers just lucky that they wise-up before they kill themselves. I started driving at 20 and I have had many lapses of reckless driving... good thing my first car was a Festiva and it could only break 85 mph by going downhill (on a closed-track, of course).


I agree! I would lose the will to live if I gotten the news (while trying to fight for my own life) that I caused the death of a whole family.


And I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say that speed definitely was the issue here, but could it have been possible this kid wasn't an idiot and the floormat had caused his MINI to accelerate out-of-control into this tragic wreck. I just want to say that we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that the MINI driver was just-another-young-and-reckless-teenager behind the wheel.

 

The kid had a prior DUI:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAUB1ASM2U.DTL

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...bay&id=7146224

It also says he had track/racing experience. Usually that makes you a better driver. Hmm....from reading the articles, it sounds like he may have figured he could barely beat the light turning red? I don't know.

I've been on this road several times going to Infineon Raceway. There are no warnings about lights ahead of the intersection & people are going 65-75 mph & when you see the red light, you gotta make a hard stop.


here is google street maps view:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...8,0.03871&z=15

 

I think the media thinks it was the car and not the stupid kid that caused the accident.(if you can call it that) That kid would have done the same stupid thing if he was driving any car. I think every car out there will do 100mph. He was just plain stupid and now a family is dead as well as himself. He was just plain stupid and that is all there is to it.
Ronnie948

 

The driver is dead, lets wait to pass judgment.

 

I suspect the make of the car was highlighted primarily because when this story was written, the paper did not yet know the MINI driver's name.

And, as Albiecrazy mentioned, the MINI Cooper is an iconic (and still somewhat novel) car. Plus many people think of the Cooper mainly as a small car... the car's size in contrast to the damage done to the minivan underscores how fast the MINI must have been going.

I don't think anyone is trying to make the MINI look responsible.

 

19....Do you not think an R56 MCS kinda inspires to give it throttle, especially for a 19 year old. Common sense. I know an 87 325is made me want to go fast when I was 18 and ended up 20 yards into a lake. Even at 21 I bought a Mustang 5.0 (saved EVERY check for 11 months while in Desert Shield/Storm to buy it) and ended up in the trees in West Ft. Hood. And I bet ANYTHING that the parents regret getting him that car and probably blame themselves. While at UC Santa Cruz I bought a 96 Corolla and that thing would shake violently over 90mph best kept at 80-85mph. When I was younger I would agree that the car had nothing to do with it, but now nearing 40, I just don't but I'm an old fart now I think it was just a several years ago, that I realized that I appreciated the man I went to when I was a junior in HS to buy his 87 Suzuki GSXR-750 in cash, mind you! and he said he would sell it to me only if I bring a parent that he could get consent from, and when I brought my mother, he scared her into NOT allowing me to get it and instead said I should get a smaller bike to begin with and suggested his 76 Yamaha RD400, which I refused, and my mother refused the GSXR-750. But I totally understand now, that I would have been straight resting in peace, now.
My parents got me a 1977 Ford LTD at 16, but I wanted a brand new 1987 Fierro. The Ford LTD cost them less than the CW Racing "Mike Miranda" Pro Frame BMX bike they got me for X-Mas my freashman year. So, I worked from 4pm-9pm washing dishes at a Japanese restaurant, then 9:30pm-1:30am bouncing/barback/porter/brawler at bowling alley/bar my soph/junior and senior years and 6pm-9pm dish washing during wrestling season. Add to that schedule asphalt laborer and Freestyle wrestling (mid March) during summers. Ended up getting an 87 325is and parents did not put 1 red cent, nothing, nada into that. But back then insurance was not mandatory, so I had none. No, matter what job at 19, I doubt any 19 year old can afford the payments and insurance for an R56 MCS, I mean I pay $236 a month for insurance and I only have 1 speeding ticket currently on record and I'm 38. This kid had a DUI on record at 19. And my car payment was at $486.00. He might of worked his *** off, but I am sure the parents "subsidized" the car somehow, either car insurance, down payment, car payment maybe partial payment or something. I just don't see a 19 year old paying near $700 a month. I know there is exceptions like the kid I knew in high school that lost both parents in a crash and got $150k in life ins payment and got the brand new 1989 Corvette, there was a kid that made bank over the hill as a programmer while in HS but he drove a Santa Cruz, "Rob Roskopp" skateboard, after he graduated from San Jose State I heard he got a 911? But, I am just not buying it. I'm getting my kid a 1984 Volvo, when he turns 16.

 

A good reason not to place traffic lights on highways. That kid could have been any driver who thought he could "make the light". I have several near-misses by drivers who thought this (on slower roads).

 

Kind of difficult to blame the red light if you read the story:

Sorry, easy to pass judgment that the kid was speeding and driving recklessly.

 

It does sound like he really wanted to run the red light and had to go around the CR-V to do it. My bad.

 

Unbelievable....
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_139021...ce=most_viewed

 

So very sad, like that poor family isn't suffering enough. Unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence. Pond scum from the shallow end of the gene pool did that for sure.

 

We're being a little over sensitive to the type of car the kid was driving. If it had been a Corolla, Tahoe, or whatever, the news would have been naming it as well.

 

To add insult to injury (or death)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAOG1ATQCT.DTL

"A Redwood City man and his girlfriend were arrested Tuesday night in connection with the burglary of a Sonoma home belonging to a family of four who died in a weekend crash, authorities said today.

San Mateo County sheriff's deputies arrested Amber Marie True, 29, after pulling her over for a routine traffic stop off Skyline Boulevard at 9:40 p.m. and finding that she had a credit card belonging to Susan Maloney, 42, authorities said.

Maloney, her husband, Johnathan, 45, and two children died Saturday night in a crash on Highway 37 in Sonoma County. Their house was ransacked early Tuesday by someone who authorities believe knew they were dead.

Deputies found other items in True's car that came from the Maloney family's home on Fryer Creek Drive, said Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett.

Shortly after True was arrested, detectives tracked down her boyfriend, Michael Vincent Gutierrez, 26, who was found driving the Maloney family's 2006 Nissan 350Z, authorities said. It was not immediately clear where he was arrested.

Investigators served a search warrant at Gutierrez's home and found jewelry, electronics, financial records and other items that had been stolen from the Maloneys' home, Sackett said.

Police believe most, if not all, of the items taken from the home have been recovered, the chief said.

True and Gutierrez were each arrested on suspicion of burglary and vehicle theft. They are being held at Sonoma County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Gutierrez has two prior convictions in San Mateo County for felony grand theft, records show. In 2007, he was convicted of felony evading police, which led to a three-year state prison sentence.

He has a pending case in which he was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property and possession of methamphetamine.

True has a case pending in San Mateo County for alleged possession of drugs.

The Maloneys and their children, Aiden, 8, and Gracie, 5, died Saturday night on Highway 37 in Sonoma County when they were broadsided by a Mini Cooper driven by 19-year-old Steven Culbertson of Lakeport (Lake County). Culbertson died a day later.

 

Unfortunately an idiot can turn a good car into killing machine.

 

And that's putting in "Nicely"!!

 

Just my .02. The article quoted a witness at the bar/restaurant noticed the 19 drink at the bar from a mixed drink type glass. It is not uncommon to be served a regular soft drink in a Tom Collins/7&7 type glass at the bar. We have sports bars around here that will allow a minor in the room, but will not serve him alcohol. This, perhaps, may be the case. I dunno.

I grieve for the family. Wrong place, wrong time.

I wish the 19 year old had lived.

A drunk driver killed our first child. I have no mercy in my soul for a drunk behind the wheel.

 

Drinking/Driving are only small factors in what occured, speed is nobody's friend when a car is out of control. I think it was a situation of Panic...and we've read that he had just side-swiped another car, speeding to get away from that accident...he was panicked, the car/driver were Out of Control...Add Speed to that and it gets Deadly...Sad but True!!

I agree with AAA I wish he had lived, then he'd learn to suffer like the family of the family who was killed must be suffering.

Because he was an Adult I fault no one except for him. Yeah, you can call "Parent Fault" all you want, but the truth is he was an Adult, not some 16 Year Old who was joy riding in Mom or Dad's MINI...it belonged to him, how ever he came to own it is not what the real issue is.

He was STUPID plain and simple!!

 

The deaths of the 5 people was bad enough. The fact that two people find it an opportunity to change their lifestyle by robbing the dead is unacceptable as mentioned in post #43

 

The theif claims to not have known about the incident, and aplogised. http://www.ktvu.com/news/21801813/detail.html

 

Even more reason that PARENTS made a bad decision to not get this kid a 77 Volvo instead. friggin 19 year old convicted drunkard driver a