Driving Lesson Horror: Teen SUV Driver Panics, Kills 9-Yr-Old Biking On Sidewalk

SUVs are way overpowered to be used as a "learning" vehicle.

sorry grandeur1 I didn't see your apology, heat of the moment.

granduer1 you should be ashamed of yourself. This is someone's CHILD!

This is a tough one because this is way more of a tragedy for the little boy and his family and it seems that the girl should be punished for her negligence. However, speaking as someone who was involved in a similar accident (didn't result in death, but massive injury) at the same age, it will be with this girl forever as it is with me.

Oh....it's all about YOU, isn't it?

People always want to assign blame when things like this happen. I guess it makes it easier for us to say, "That's why this would never happen to me." But teenagers do need to learn to drive and before they can get experience they need to get on the road as inexperienced drivers. Even practicing in a closed course or in a parking lot isn't going to give them the experience they need to tackle the open road. They have to learn by doing. It was a terrible, tragic accident and waxing philosophical about how it "could have been prevented" is useless.

Thank God we'll be getting this Asian female driver off the road before she does anymore damage.

It was an Asian Female driver? where did you find that?

It's nowhere, just an assumption by an asshole.

Fuck you, plick.

Any truth to the rumor that the driver was heard to say "So solly! So solly!"?

I hope the driver sees that picture of the kid forever to remind her of what she did.
I don't care if she has problems, she's still alive.

She didn't intentionally try to hit him so that is pretty harsh, and I'm sure picture or no picture she will always remember she took someones life. So give her a break the girl is probably already distraught over the whole thing without people trying to punish her even more.

The person driving up her ass knows what they did and I am sure they are following this story. It is they who should forever remember what they caused. Tailgating caused this accident. People will argue, oh well she just should have ignored it. The key concept in driving is spatial awareness. Someone driving dangerously close would have been enough of a distraction for an experienced driver let alone someone who is just learning.

I feel really bad for the teenage girl. (Yes, I feel bad for the victim's family, so don't fucking jump on me for that, you certain contrarians who like to pick apart posts for no real reason). This is going to seriously fuck her up forever, being at such a young and impressionable age. I hope her mom has enough sense to send her to a shrink.

She saw an oncoming car in her rear view mirror - huh? - and panicked? I'm sorry, I just don't get this - she panicked, sped up, and ran off a corner.  Sorry, that's just astoundingly bad judgment. Make her wait another five years or so before getting another learner's permit.

No Boraxo, Just like the thousands of other asshole drivers on long Island the driver behind her was probably trying to push her just because she was doing the speed limit.

Thousands of other asshole drivers everywhere, LI is not the exclusive home to these dickheads.

Statistics shows otherwise.

86% of all statistics are made up.

I know people on here want want to find blame, but this is the true meaning of an accident. The mom was in the car with her, in a residential neighborhood (where parents tend to teach their kids, thats where myself, and all my friends learned) where speeds should be below 35. 

She PANICKED (keyword here), so whether she was in a Civic or an SUV, The outcome would of probably been the same.

It is what it is, a horrible accident.

No, because the Civic doesn't have the engine to get going very fast  in a short distance, nor the mass that cannot be stopped by gentle braking.

Its the meaning of stupidity. If a person is new to driving take them to a large preferably clear parking lot.

Maybe if the women didn't drive the dad away from the family he could have been around?

How do you know they did not first start out in a parking lot. Inevitably you will have to train someone in real world situations.

Bring back Drivers Ed.

I never got to take it myself, I was right after the cut off year, but I hear it helps.

I can't help but wonder if the turn would have gone smoother if she was in a Civic, not an X Terra. Those things have a horrible center of gravity. They're a joke as a utility vehicle and their dangerous as cars.

So sad.

The fact is many people on long Island drive like assholes. I do not blame the girl for becoming flustered and losing control of her car just because some dick head behind her hates his life and wants to fuck with people. The problem here is people see others speeding, tailgating, driving aggressively and do not have the spine to be the exception and drive normal. It perpetuates its self because we cant afford to hire additional police to enforce this because of their six figure salaries. If I remember correctly in Nassau County there is something like 80 to 90 fatalities a year due to automobile related accidents. This is atrocious and unacceptable.

Everyone's got an answer.

ugh i know these people make me so frustrated!! it was an ACCIDENT. but commenters have to blame the girl, the mom, republicans, etc etc...come on people, it was a really unfortunate accident. sure, we might be able to learn from it in hindsight, but I don't blame anyone. it's just a situation that really sucks. :(

Actually it was a crash.

There are no accidents.

you can always choose to not read the comments.  Problem solved.

You could always not respond. Everyone could always do anything. Also: shaddup.

There are two kinds of accidents. Unavoidable and avoidable. This is clearly the latter. Just a few precautions like staying away from areas with pedestrians, other cars and no room to maneuver until the learner has more experience. She got her permit two weeks before. It's likely she hasn't been practicing every night since then so she was not ready to be on actual streets, even with a parent in the passenger seat.

You're absolutely correct, it's avoidable. I've never seen a child on a bicycle or a pedestrian on a sidewalk swerve into a roadway and cause the death of a driver in a car.
The driver lives in New hyde park, why come to floral park to learn to drive, go further out East like maybe Gilgo beach, I hear it's really quiet there. Learn to driver there.
Everyone's got an excuse and an accident is the worst one.

Some people shouldn't ever drive.  And I'm one of them.  At least I realize it.

well she was just learning, so obviously she was inexperienced anyway. it doesn't mean she's one of the people that shouldn't ever drive, it just shows that inexperienced drivers can be a huge risk... :(

...and some people should never try to teach a person to drive, especially irresponsible people with no common sense

Wow. How tragic for everyone.  I wouldn't be so quick to jump on the mom. There is a reason that they call accidents accidents. If we could prevent them, they would never happen.

my father taught me how to drive after hours in large mostly empty parking lots right after i first got my permit. 2 weeks is too early for residential roads. We did that for about a month and a week before i even made it to a street.

I'm not sure I agree ... if the girl had driven several times in parking lots or other non-trafficked areas, which is a distinct possibility, her mother might reasonably have thought that she'd be ready to try a quiet residential street.  We don't know for sure because the girl's name and address haven't been released, but chances are she lived right in the area and was familiar with the street.

The nine-year old was killed in Floral Park but the 16-year old driver lives in New Hyde Park.

I grew up on Long Island. When I learning how to drive, my parents would take me to the nearest LIRR parking lot on a Saturday or Sunday, when it would be nearly deserted. Once they were confident I had the ability to control the vehicle competently, then we moved onto residential streets. Every town on LI has a LIRR station that's pretty much guaranteed to be deserted on weekends. No guarantees, but this approach may have helped here.

my father taught me how to drive after hours in large mostly empty parking lots right after i first got my permit. 2 weeks is too early for residential roads. We did that for about a month and a week before i even made it to a street.

How do you know they didn't already do hours in empty parking lots? 2 weeks is 336 hours - plenty of time to put in "hours in the parking lot"

ACCIDENT: an unpredictable, unusual, and unintended external action which occurs in a particular time and place, without deliberate cause.  Those of you writing shoulda-woulda-coulda should keep in mind the concept of what an accident is.  A new driver of 2 weeks overcompensating on a turn, or an experienced driver of 20 years that happens to dose off for a few seconds and kills someone.  Each is preventable, but an accident nonetheless.  Accept it...you can't prevent it.

ACCIDENT, n. An inevitable occurrence due to the action of immutable
natural laws.

Source: THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911
(a more accurate resource)

It was an accident that the girl hit the boy on the sidewalk but it wasn't an 'accident' that the girl's mother chose to 'teach' her how to drive on a narrow street of a residential neighborhood (oh, and in a giant SUV too.)

Was it a narrow street? And where else would you teach a kid to drive? Broadway in Manhattan?

I came her to comment after reading the mother's comment that "it's not the place to do it." So where is? If not Broadway, on a highway -- or in the suburbs? How many suburbs in NYC/LI aren't residential? Should we take the kids to learn to drive in the country?

Wow, you're as stupid as granduer1.  There are plenty of streets to teach a young person to drive, especially around business and industrial areas.  Read the article- LI is considered the suburbs.

So because there's a car accident, we shouldn't ever drive in a residential area? I guess you don't go on planes because there could be a plane crash.

The logic of not learning in residential areas is pretty dumb.

What are talking about? Stick to the article. We are talking about a  teen who just received her permit is barreling around a huge ass SUV on a quiet residential street. Have some fucking compassion instead of snarking.

I feel for the family but this isn't snarking. I would never agree to teaching a kid to drive in an SUV but I have a problem only with faulting this to location. There are other factors here.

Ohmygosh! OF COURSE people should eventually learn to drive in residential areas! However would they get their cars home then??? Location is just ONE of the factors that could have been changed to prevent this tragedy. Why do you want to harp on that?? 
You said 'I came her to comment after reading the mother's comment that "it's not the place to do it." So where is?' Okay, so basically, a grief-stricken mother asks "why?" and you felt compelled to nitpick. Maybe in her grief she should have said "Oh Why didn't they factor in the inexperience of the driver, the density of the neighborhood, the ease of handling of the SUV, the narrowness of the ST, the traffic, the time of day,...yes, even that LI has shitty, impatient drivers...then this wouldn't have happened??" Would that have been better for you???

This is a pointless argument. There are probably thousands if not millions of people who learn to drive annually in residential areas. This was a mistake, but I really think it is not fair to the responsible drivers who learn in the same areas to be told that they need to learn elsewhere. That was the only point I wanted to make.

Actually, I agree with the mom.  The child should have been practicing in a parking lot or on a long country road somewhere, at least until she was truly comfortable behind the wheel.  And I couldn't care less about whether someone is offended that they "need to learn elsewhere."  I'm sure the girl who was driving that car would gladly trade that residential neighborhood she was in for a long country road or an empty parking lot.  To suggest that "poor responsible beginner" drivers would be denied some kind of right because they can't LEARN how to use a huge and potentially dangerous machine in an area filled with people is ridiculous.  And personally, it seems like you're more sympathetic to the freedom of beginner drivers than the freedom of human beings to not be killed by them.

Good on you.  Not only did you disagree with this Mom's view on where to teach a young driver, you did it within days of her child's death and in a public forum. 
That was a good call on your part.  

"And where else would you teach a kid to drive?" I wouldn't teach a KID to drive. There is no law that requires a parent to teach their own kid to drive when the kid turns 16. The girl could have taken driver's ed with a properly equipped car or they could have waited until the girl was more mature before she tried to learn to drive. There are plenty of 'kids' who don't get their licenses until their 20s.

It doesn't matter if they're 16 or 60 - inexperience is inexperience. Age has little to do with it.

...and there are plenty of insecure drivers in their 30s or 40s. I wonder where they should learn to drive. While I know age did contribute to her fear here, I'd call this a very unfortunate accident -- and location has little to do with it.

Yeah, a SUV seems a very ill-considered choice for driving lessons...

[Ok, SUVs are an ill-considered choice for almost everything they're used for, but especially this.]

What if the SUV is the only vehicle the family owns?



What is your address? Or will you be dropping your small car off for the lessons?

I agree each is preventable.  However, why shouldn't an inexperienced, nervous driver be restricted to driving in a parking lot or non-residential area? (especially with a Nissan xterra SUV!) And should an experienced driver really be driving if he's so exhausted that he risks falling asleep at the wheel? 

This is less about the definition of the word "accident" than it is about the statistical probability of a so-called accident occurring. Much of life is learning how to make intelligent choices.

This accident would never have happened if learners were only allowed to take lessons with driving schools monitors. Plus those cars should have double command as a safety for the monitor and all other people sharing the road. It works like that in my country and it's so much saffer for everyone.

Agreed - it's a much better system, but can imagine the shitstorm Republicans would raise if they tried to institute that here? I can already hear Sarah Palin waxing poetic about when she learned to drive... some bullshit about "my daddy helped me steer" and all other sorts of apple-pie, fireworks on July 4th, and other jingoistic flag-waving bullshit that died 50 years ago.

oh shut up. I live in a very republican area (though I'm not a rep. or a democrat) and trust me, republicans aren't all idiots like sarah palin (just like not all democrats are idiots like you)...you are so ignorant. there are intelligent people and idiots in each party...it just really disappoints me to see adults acting so immature. it's stupid enough to continually ridicule republicans just because you're not one, but it's even worse when you choose to do that when the article is totally irrelevant to politics. I'd think educated adults would have enough brains to figure out that what they think (whether you're a republican or democrat) isn't always right...it's so juvenile to pick a team and badmouth the other the whole time. people like you seem like those immature sports fans who don't shut up about how their team is the best and the other team sucks.

my family, friends, and pretty much everyone else where I live are conservatives, and trust me, they'd be all for having a safer system. I was in 2 wrecks (1 my fault, 1 not) my first year of driving, and most of my friends have been in a couple as well. Sadly, lots of inexperienced drivers have to learn that way...I really feel for the driver (not to say I don't feel for the victim and his family...trust me, I do.) because I know that it was a mistake and she'll have live with it for the rest of her life. I think we should take whatever precautions we can to prevent these kind of accidents. cars are one of the most dangerous things out there...behind the wheel, someone who wouldn't hurt a fly could unintentionally kill a car full of people or in this case, an innocent pedestrian. It's awful.

Just a couple months ago, my car hydroplaned and I had no control of it. It when up onto the curb and I swear if a little old lady or a kid had been there, they would've been seriously injured or worse and I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. I would've been behind the wheel of a car heading 20-30+ mph towards an innocent pedestrian with no control...that thought scares me everyday, and trust me, during rain, I drive about 5 mph now...but I had to go through the horror of having absolutely no control of my car to realize the things that could've happened if circumstances had been a bit different. driving is so dangerous...it sucks that this happened. the little boy was just riding his bike on the sidewalk and the girl was just trying to learn how to drive, but now their lives are ended/changed forever...

this situation completely sucks for everyone involved...I'm just disgusted that you decided to use it to deride republicans. your rival political party has nothing whatsoever to do with why this little boy died. your comment makes you seem immature, ignorant, and I'm ashamed of people like you. grow up and get a brain, please.

RIP Andrew :(

I agree with your last line, but, with all due respect....

Republicans are mostly responsible for cutting drivers ed out of school budgets.

Nobody wants an accident, its great that you can own up to yours - but the world would be a better, safer place if those budgets hadn't been axed.

People have every right to look at something as institutionalized as driving and realize politics play a role.

Precisely. So conservative because there's something in it for me so why would I want things to change?

What does it matter that even with the exponential rise in safety technology we still have high numbers of preventable accidents? I know; why should I pay for 'someone else's' kid to learn how to drive. Right?

You mean like how hard much congress resisted seatbelt, airbag, and DWI laws?

Heh, I'd forgotten about all that...

wow, just saying, that was the longest post I've ever typed...sorry 'bout that!

Wow...I was waiting for The Palin to make an entry into this conversation.  The Palin applies to any topic.

Glad to be of service.

Those cars are equipped with dual brakes, something that may have prevented this poor kid's death. I remember being in one of those cars, a co-worker moonlights as a driving instructor.

Jesus Christ,  A bicycle did all that carnage that it landed on top of another bicycle?

Hey Grandeur. KILL YOURSELF. Ridiculous? What's ridiculous is that you'd make such a heartless comment. Kids riding on suburban sidewalks is the norm. It's a fluke accident, but saying what you said is basically saying that a 9-year old deserved to die...?

Seriously, you are a heartless SOB - i wish you the worst.

This sounds like an accident that is just plain sad for all.

Not the place to learn to drive? Well then where?

That cyclist should not have been on the sidewalk.

school parking lot after hours/weekends. that's where i learned.

You're a friggen idiot.

...

Apologies. DISQUS originally posted this under my under my comment.

I do not drive. Would you like to try again? :)

are you kidding?! then where are little kids supposed to ride their bikes?? their backyards? I think first, you should start practicing in parking lots or something...what a tragic accident. ugh this ended the life of such a young child and scarred the life of a teen. so so sad...

I am ashamed to say that I laughed but that's not funny!

Funny, I said the same thing when I looked at your Avatar.

theres nothing funny about a 9 yr being killed you jerkoff

I was joking. Jesus sorry!



Isn't that like the whole effing cyclist issue right now?

I apologized.  What more do you want?  

If you are so "sensitive" as some of you are claiming.  Why all this vitriol toward someone who has apologized?  

You guys are claiming to be appalled by this, but I am appalled by your written behavior.  

Get off your high horse and be human.

Hey, go fuck yourself.

See now THAT was funny.

The timing, the delivery, even the object of the joke was superior.

Dude, it's your timing.  You can't joke about a kid's death on the 1st article posted about it.

ok you are right.  i'm 0 and 0 right now...

I wish I were joking when I ask you if you were wearing a helmet when you were dropped on your head as a child?

Wow. Really?

That's ridiculous. There's no reason why a 9-year old shouldn't ride a bike on a residential sidewalk; it's legal. And you're suggesting he'd have been safer in the street? 

I take that back. The comment is not ridiculous, it's plainly stupid.

thank you, that's so true. maybe grandeur was being sarcastic??