Posted on 07/22/2010 3:32:02 PM PDT by oprahstheantichrist
BILLINGS - The Montana Highway Patrol says a 13-year-old girl was killed after trying to pass a slower vehicle in an Interstate 94 construction zone in Dawson County.
Trooper Glen Quinnell identified the victim as Heather Giles of Billings.
The patrol says Giles was driving a car eastbound and approaching a construction zone where traffic was restricted to one lane. She sped up and tried to pass another vehicle in the median when she lost control of the car, causing it to roll. The vehicle came to rest on its top in the westbound lanes.
Giles was pronounced dead at a Glendive hospital. A 14-year-old female passenger was injured.
Quinnell says the vehicle belonged to the immediate family of the passenger. The trooper says the girls took the car to meet with a boy in Sidney and "they didn't think about the consequences."
This is written as though it's not unusual for a 13 yr old to have a driver's license. Is that the case in Montana?
Wow! That’s terrible.
In rural areas 12 and 13 year olds frequently drive. I know when I was living in Hulbert and Tahlequah, OK there were kids driving.
Probably she didnt have one. When i was young back in rural Wyoming, it wasnt uncommon at all to drive while young. though there wasnt much traffic in those days :)
I don’t think she was licensed, I didn’t read that in the story. I think the 13 and 14 year old girls just took the car to go meet the boy.
Allmost all kids in rural areas learn how to drive tractors at an early age ... That is practical reality.
13 years old and driving? There ought to be a law!
There was a horrible deadly accident in Dallas a few years back caused by some 12-13 year old boys joyriding in a pickup truck. They flew off one interstate overpass and into a gasoline tank truck. It was a huge explosion, truck driver instantly dead, also other drivers. Turns out the kids were members of this group of gypsy like people called the Travelers who frequently let underage kids drive.
Yes, that's correct, that's how I learned. I was driving (legally) at 14. These kids took a car they weren't supposed to and got in over their heads. My heart's out to all concerned.
How do they know she didn’t think of the consequences?
I remember being 8-9 and driving a tractor, snowmobile and hay trailer in the fields of my grandparents ranch to feed horses in the winter in Michigan.
Some more travelers were killed (again west Fort Worth) a few weeks ago, running from cops after stealing a pallet of shingles.
I got my driver license when I was fourteen. At that time you had to get a letter from the county judge stating that it was necessary for you to have a license. I went to the judge’s office and his secretary typed a one sentence letter and I’m pretty sure that the secretary signed the judge’s name. Took that to take the test and get my license.
Doesn't say licensed just that they took the car.
True! My daughter learned to drive a tractor and rake hay when she was 9. My granddaughter is 14 and drives the tractor and bushhogs the fields when needed. My daughter got her driver’s license at 16 and was immediately driving a ton truck pulling a horse trailer or a 24ft triple axle flatbed trailer loaded with hay or a tractor. I learned to drive a tractor, a big truck and pull trailers when I was a kid. Country kids are already pros at driving by the time they reach learner permit age of 15.
My brothers, cousins and neighbors were all all doing the same, except for the snowmobile. Doesn’t snow much or even enough to justify one.
But, they did ride combines, motorcycles and ATV’s.
I did a month of haying. Never again.
TRUE.
But it still means they have exactly ZERO experience handling a heavy vehicle on a highway with other traffic, at highway speeds.
um... why is a 13 year old driving a car??
They have as much experience as a 16-18 year old.
My recollection was no one got crazy until they actually go their own car. Until then, you were driving a tool that accounts for your livelihood and they/we treated it as such.
no license is required to drive on your own property of course
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