Teens die in car in icy pond

[zandperl]

I wish there were a little more factual information in this article. Five teens driving to school went off the road and into an icy pond. It took rescue crews 2 hours to get the car out, at which time the kids were found with their Bibles in their laps, still buckled into their seats, two already dead and the other three did not make it

Comments

[oh_chris]

"i sent the police, a fire truck, even a guy in a boat!"

[zandperl]

That's the punchline I was trying to remember! *grin* Have I mentioned lately that you're awesome? You are!

[zandperl]

Though, one of my thoughts was that perhaps their parents trained them that if there's an emergency they should sit and wait for help. I can see that that would be good advice in some circumstances, like younger children or ones inclined to panic, but these kids were old enough and obviously self-posessed enough (i.e., the Bibles) that they should've been able to make decisions to save themselves.

Of course, I could then argue that religion is training people to sit and wait for help instead of helping themselves, but that's neither here nor there. "God bless the child that's got his own."

[zandperl]

I was thinking about that too, but then that'd mean the driver was reading while driving, as I believe the report said that they *all* had the Scripture out and in their laps. I could be wrong though. The report also doesn't say if they died of the cold or drowning, and if the car was filled with water or not - though I guess if it were entirely full they probably wouldn't've found Bibles in laps.

It's just interesting how they selectively chose enough to make it a good personal interest story, but not one you can learn anything from.

[gemini6ice]

Reading something while you're supposed to be driving is not very smart either.

[xoder]

Suicide pact? Although, why bring the bibles, then?

[zandperl]

Maybe as a way to lull yourself into sleep so it'd be painless?

[zandperl]

I guess the lesson that I want to learn from this is when IS it advisable to open the window / open the door / break the window and try to escape? That is the opportunity that the news channel passed up in filming this article.

Obviously chosing to remain inside the car for two hours in its/their condition in an icy pond was a fatal choice. Would their chances have been better had they attempted to escape at some point during the process? Or were they doomed the moment the car hit the water?

Not to mention that we could've learned something about the reason the car went off the road in the first place. I read recently, I forget where, some statistic like teens who have other teens as passengers are four times more likely to have an accident than the average driver. They formed the conclusion that teens shouldn't drive other teens as they're easily distracted. I suspect that is the cause, but who knows if I'll ever find out.