2nd death in a year...

[Evil Princess]

This is the second member of my graduating class to be killed in a car accident in under a year:

http://www.newsday.com/templates/mi...ny-lifatal0728&section=/news/local/longisland

Seth E. Baumgartner's family marveled at the huge number of friends the 2003 Commack High School graduate had as many of them visited Monday.

They gathered at his Commack home to remember the 18-year-old who had planned to study business management at Stony Brook University starting in the fall.

The teen was killed at 11 p.m. Sunday when he lost control of his light brown 1995 Acura Integra and slammed into a LIPA pole on Kings Park Road in Commack, Suffolk police said.

Det. Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky said one witness to the accident reported that Baumgartner's car skidded off the road while traveling south on a turn about 300 feet south of Shandon Road. Baumgartner was pronounced dead at the scene.

The blacktop road was dry at the time of the accident, Pelkofsky said. Suffolk police do not suspect alcohol played a role in the accident.

Pelkofsky said it was not clear whether Baumgartner was traveling too fast but police said he was wearing his seat belt.

More than 1,100 customers lost power when the pole Baumgartner hit snapped and fell on the roof of his car. Workers restored power within 90 minutes after the accident, a LIPA official said.

Shandon is the road that you turn on to enter my development. Five minutes before that crash, my boyfriend drove past the site, turned at shandon, and dropped me off at home. Then he went home the same way. No more than five minutes later did that accident occur. My power went off, and shortly after I heard sirens.

Is it wrong of me to make this sad situation about myself? All I could think about is how if we left five minutes later, I could have been in that accident, or Greg could have been comming home after dropping me off and been involved on the way home.

What's horrible, and I don't know what happened, no one does, was that this kid was notorious for driving fast and recklessly. Same thing with my other classmate who passed away in the beginning of the year, he blew a stopsign. I just wonder how many of these accidents have to happen before people realize that driving can be dangerous.

 

[chell]

Sorry to see this. No, you are not bad to think that. Everyone does. It is only normal.

The sad thing is that those types of accidents will keep happening. I wish they wouldn't, but they will. Maybe some day it will change.

Here's a {{{HUG}}} to make you feel at least a little better!

 

[vald1977]

So sorry to hear that you have lost two in your class so soon. I would feel the same way you do if I had been in that area so close to the time of the accident. These types of accidents just seem so senseless and it is hard to understand. {{{ hugs }}} to you. I am so glad to hear that both you and your BF are safe and sound. Take care.

 

[fireplug]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your classmate, especially one so young.

The sad thing is that those types of accidents will keep happening. I wish they wouldn't, but they will. Maybe some day it will change.

We were just talking at work on Sunday about this very thing. I have been doing it for 22 years or so and they never stop. We just keep picking them up. Year after year. It can be a very sad job to do.

Steve

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

when I saw the article earlier today I thought of you, evil princess, because I know you live nearby. I figured you might have known him. {{hugs}}

 

[DaisyDebbie]

seems to be a once a week occurrence. I agree that it should slow some of them down but it doesn't seem to

 

[Evil Princess]

Yeah, more like two streets away, eeek.

Thanks for the love guys Stuff like this just seems so senseless.

 

[Dan Murphy]

It does seem so senseless, Amy, so unnecessary. Kids dies in auto accidents when I was your age, they died in Vince's class, Natalie's class. And so senselessly. Speed, drinking/drugs, reckless driving, no seatbelts, all take lives, young, old, kids, senselessly. And fine to feel as you do and have those thoughts, Amy, very normal to say, 'what if',

My prayers and best for Seth's family, and friends, frineds like you cared about him. Take care, you care.

Dan

 

[RJTeer]

I'm the mother of the boy who died in that accident in Commack, Long Island. Unlike all of those who have heard rumors and talk about things they just don't know about - I will share this with you. I have the police investigation report. I have reports of two eye witnesses. Seth was NOT speeding, Not driving recklessly, and not being foolish. It was an accident. Plain and simple. God does things that we can't explain. Noone else was hurt - thank goodness. There was no alcohol, no drugs, no large group of kids in the car, no racing...just a ride from his girlfriend's house to meet other friends. As for his "reputation" for driving with disregard - amazingly enough his friends (the ones that actually drove with him) say he was a careful driver. While other friends got tickets for moving violations, speeding, etc....Seth never did. Seth died that night and if anyone who wasn't there feels they should jump to conclusions or place blame - SHAME ON YOU.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I'm very sorry for your loss RJTeer.

The police don't have any idea what caused his car to skid off the road? I'm sorry that all the speeding teenagers have made most people just assume that whenever a teen is killed in an accident that it was due to speed, drugs, etc.

 

[DoeWDW]

My condolences to all affected by this tragedy.

 

[Tinkbell]

I'm sorry to hear the news.. Don't worry. You are perfectly normal to think about what could have happened if you and your boyfriend were on the road a few minutes later. I would do the same. ((HUGS))

 

[RJTeer]

Actually the police are saying that the "reason" (as if there could ever be a reasonable reason for this to have happened)...was "DRIVER INEXPERIENCE". It was dark, there is a turn in the road that Seth may not have been familiar with, there was some sand on the road that may have played a part in his inability to correct for misjudging the turn, and being young and inexperienced he may not have known just what to do - Seth had been driving for almost 1 year - Would we ALL know just how to react to every situation we encounter on the road? Witnesses say he simply hit a curb and bounced onto a second curb - hitting the pole. I wasn't there and don't care to know more. I love him dearly and will not ever place blame nor allow anyone else to accept blame. As his friends keep saying "God needed an Angel - so he took ours".

 

[bumcat]

RJTeer - so sorry for your loss.
The fact that he was wearing his seatbelt says alot for him. In my opinion it shows he cared about safety.
So many rumors run rampant in school when things happen and the news media usually dont help the situation by trying to imply more.
It's possible he swerved to miss an animal running across the street.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

so sorry for your loss. we've had a few accidnets like that here in Dix Hills, too. it's so sad.

 

[Melora]

I am so sorry to hear this. In the past year here in our town we have lost 3 teenagers. 2 in one accident. The boys were driving with their friends late at night and came around a turn too quickly and slammed into a pole spun out and hit a wall. There was no alcohol involved but the kids were out past when they should have been (past midnight). The other girl died a month before her graduation last May. She was at a stop light right outside of the high school when a lady failed to stop for the red light and slammed into her car doing more than 60 miles an hour. (no skid marks at all from the lady who hit her.) The force knocked her car across an intersection into a pole and killed her. (Terrible thing was she didnt die right away... her parents had to make the terrible decision to take her of life support 2 days later.) The lady that hit her was driving under the influence. I was so distraught for quite some time..my son knew her though not very well. I kept thinking.. if she had only taken an extra minute at school, or hurried a bit faster that day, she wouldn't have been waiting at that light at that moment. Everyone has there own time to go, a time when they have learned what they needed to in this life and now it is time to move on.... that was her time. Though that thought doesn't seem to ease the hurt. I can't imagine the pain.. this wasn't my child and I didn't know her but I really hurt about it for quite some time.

 

[DopeyRN]

RJTeer...I am one who used to be guilty of jumping to conclusions. And while I am willing to bet that most of the teen accidents are negligence on the part of the driver, it is so, so wrong to assume all are. My son was in a very serious accident this May. He totalled the car. He fell asleep, not because he had been drinking/doing drugs, but because he had stayed up late studying all week...to earn the 4.66 GPA he finished his senior year with. He stayed out too late for his GFs prom, and he fell asleep and hit a telephone pole. I have heard of SO many of our "friends" who have all assumed he was drunk/speeding...I had no idea how much these assumptions can hurt others.

I was lucky. I am so very, very sorry for your loss. May God be with your family. May you be able to turn a deaf ear to all the assumptions. My prayers are with you.