Another reason not to drink and drive... *UPDATE IN OP*

[MartyMcFly3]

This happened in my town. A friend of mine's sister dated one of the kids that died in the accident. Unbelievable how a bad decision a person makes can end/ruin so many lives in a matter of seconds. News link with pictures and video

February 11, 2007 (Oswego, IL) - Four teenagers are dead and others have been hurt after an accident in Kendall County. All nine people were at the same car which hit a utility pole. The driver is charged with a DUI.

As teenagers lit candles next to the scene, relatives of one of the victims placed a photo next to a cross. All day, this sight on Route 31 became a place to mourn for so many that knew Katherine Merkel, Tiffany Urso, Jessica Nutoni and Matthew Frank. Mae Anderson considered herself a second mother to 16-year-old Urso.

"She was very outgoing and had a bubbly personality," Anderson said.

Urso joined seven other Oswego High School teenagers in a car driven by 23-year-old Sandra Vasquez. According to friends, the teenagers were out late at some house parties. Their designated driver never showed up. So, they piled into Vasquez's four-door Infiniti to get a ride home. Daniel Sutcliff is related to one of the survivors.

"She was sitting behind the driver and all she knows is that she felt the car moved a little bit, go back, the next thing she knows she was beating on the windows for help," Sutcliff said.

It is believed the teenagers who were killed were sitting in their friends' laps. Jessica Nutoni's father was awakened by a police officer.

"It was very difficult for me," said Michael Nutoni. "We have this bombshell dropped and an officer told me about this. I don't know what to do about this."

Fourteen-year-old Katherine Merkel's teenage brother remembers his sister.

"She was the best in the world. She was an angel,"John Merkel said.

While the driver, Vasquez, has been charged with drunk driving. Their next step is to help the community get through this tragedy.

"I will help the school district with a crisis plan," said Det. Rob Sherwood of the Oswego Police Department. "There are counselors available."

The high school will be open Monday. School officials are encouraging students to attend so they can take advantage of the counselors. The driver of the car remains in critical condition. None of the teenagers knew her. They just piled in a car to get a ride home. Also, there will probably be additional charges filed against her, as well.

DONT DRINK AND DRIVE!

************UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE**********
School pictures of the 8 teenagers

Charges the Driver Faces

The driver of the vehicle that crashed Sunday morning in Oswego, killing four teenagers and injuring four others, was formally charged Monday with four counts of reckless homicide and eight counts of aggravated drunken driving ? four counts for great bodily harm and four counts for death.

The charges for Sandra Vasquez, 23, of the 400 block of Beach Street in Aurora, were announced during a Monday morning press conference at the Oswego Police Department.

The reckless homicide charge and the aggravated drunken driving for the deaths are both Class 2 felonies, each with a possible prison sentence of six to 28 years.

The aggravated drunken driving for causing great bodily harm is a Class 4 felony with a possible prison sentence of one to 12 years.

Vasquez was charged with drunken driving on Sunday.

Vasquez remains hospitalized at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, where she is under police watch.

Upon her release from the hospital, Vasquez will be transported to the Kendall County jail and her bond will be set by a judge, according to Eric Weis, Kendall County state?s attorney.

Oswego police said that Vasquez was driving the eight teens home from a party in the 0-99 block of Woodcliff Road in Oswego when the car crashed on Route 31 at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday.

Police said speed played a factor in the accident, saying Vasquez was driving over the posted 45 mph limit. However, police said they did not yet have an exact speed.

Another one died. Add another count of reckless homicide.

 

[Garet Jax]

Tragic

 

[Toastedlightly]

Reminds me of what happened to a few people at my school. About 2 weeks after graduation, they were driving on a twisty road. Four people were in the car. One turn they sorta missed. Killed the two in the back seat. One was a childhood friend from long ago. The cause: consumption of MJ and other drugs.

 

[aswedc]

You'd think a 23 year old would be smarter than this. Guess some people never grow up.

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: aswedc
You'd think a 23 year old would be smarter than this. Guess some people never grow up.

she'll have a couple years to think about it... in jail.

 

[txrandom]

Originally posted by: Canai

Originally posted by: aswedc
You'd think a 23 year old would be smarter than this. Guess some people never grow up.

she'll have a couple years to think about it... in jail.

Hopefully all her life. The passengers are just as dumb by getting a ride from a drunk though and not being buckled in.

 

[mobobuff]

Darwin was their designated driver.

Still, sad.

 

[kamikaze27]

I was like that as a teenager, the heavens were kind to me. I'm one of the most responsible adults on the block since my last car accident, and that's with everything.
Good reality check.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: txrandom

Originally posted by: Canai

Originally posted by: aswedc
You'd think a 23 year old would be smarter than this. Guess some people never grow up.

she'll have a couple years to think about it... in jail.

Hopefully all her life. The passengers are just as dumb by getting a ride from a drunk though and not being buckled in.

You seriously think life in prison is justified? I mean, if she has any soul, she'll never forgive herself, but those kids knew they were getting in with a drunk driver....

I mean, not to lessen the tragedy, and she should be punished, but life seems a bit extreme. Now, if someone who was not in the car (i.e. someone who did not make the voluntary choice to take the risk) had died it would be worse IMO.

 

[Black88GTA]

Urso joined seven other Oswego High School teenagers in a car driven by 23-year-old Sandra Vasquez. According to friends, the teenagers were out late at some house parties. Their designated driver never showed up. So, they piled into Vasquez's four-door Infiniti to get a ride home. Daniel Sutcliff is related to one of the survivors.

Ouch. Awful situation all the way around, but it must suck terribly to be the DD who never showed up for whatever reason. If that person had shown up like they (assumably) said they would, those people would still be alive.

 

[wetcat007]

Why is it so hard for people to call a cab?

 

[I Saw OJ]

Its staggering how many people think its alright to drink and drive. How dumb do you really have to be to drink and drive.

 

[BrownTown]

Normally you'd think that they would have just slept over at the house they were drinking at instead of driving home (seems like every party I go to several people end up staying there because they drank too much). However given their ages I'd suspect that their parents probably wouldn't have been to happy if they had called home drunk to explain that they were staying over (given that they are WAY underage). Its just sad, it seemed like every year I was in high school there would be at least one fatal car crash brought on drinking/drugs. Its amazing that people keep on doing it when the examples are so clear of its stupidity. About 2 miles from my parents house there is a particularly curvy stretch of road with ~5 crosses over a mile (incredibly obvious reminders that drunk driving is bad), and yet junior year in high school 7 kids in a car who are huffing pain thinner! decide to take a sharp curve at 70 miles and hour and boom, more crosses popping up.

 

[Beev]

Wow, that was a whole slew of bad decisions.

Drinking when you're 16?
"Hey our DD never showed up" "Ah well, let's just drive."
Piling 8 people into a 4 door car?

Was I this stupid when I was a kid? Probably. Luckily my mom sheltered the hell out of me...

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: txrandom

Originally posted by: Canai

Originally posted by: aswedc
You'd think a 23 year old would be smarter than this. Guess some people never grow up.

she'll have a couple years to think about it... in jail.

Hopefully all her life. The passengers are just as dumb by getting a ride from a drunk though and not being buckled in.

You seriously think life in prison is justified? I mean, if she has any soul, she'll never forgive herself, but those kids knew they were getting in with a drunk driver....

I mean, not to lessen the tragedy, and she should be punished, but life seems a bit extreme. Now, if someone who was not in the car (i.e. someone who did not make the voluntary choice to take the risk) had died it would be worse IMO.

I agree with you; this does not deserve life in prison. There was no malice here.

for the victims

 

[Juno]

 

[MartyMcFly3]

The thing that gets me is:

None of the teenagers knew her. They just piled in a car to get a ride home.

Just one of a bunch of bad decisions made that night.

 

[skace]

The thing that pisses me off is not that this happened. But that it will happen again and again. Because people can't seem to learn from what has occured already, they always have to test the water themselves. How many people out there do you think there are that actually believe they drive well while drunk and that this will never happen to them.

 

[TeamZero]

Originally posted by: wetcat007
Why is it so hard for people to call a cab?

Towns like mine with populations of 10,000 or below..rarely have a cab service.

 

[bignateyk]

The passengers are just as stupid for riding with her, let alone unbuckled.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Originally posted by: skace
The thing that pisses me off is not that this happened. But that it will happen again and again. Because people can't seem to learn from what has occured already, they always have to test the water themselves. How many people out there do you think there are that actually believe they drive well while drunk and that this will never happen to them.

Agreed. Some of those same people post here on ATOT.

 

[j00fek]

why drink and drive when you can get high and fly

 

[MartyMcFly3]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
The passengers are just as stupid for riding with her, let alone unbuckled.

Oh without question. But they didnt deserve to die for a couple bad choices made that night.

 

[chris7b]

Thats what happens when you let a woman behind the wheel....

All kidding aside...it is sad though.

Were there 8 people in that infiniti?

 

[glutenberg]

Can a car crash resulting from being drunk really be called an accident these days?