But thanks so much for giving us 
Posted on 05/11/2004 10:01:19 AM PDT by presidio9
A rented SUV was speeding at more than 90 mph when it clipped a car it was trying to pass and veered out of control, killing seven people inside, including four young children, authorities said.
The Ford Explorer went airborne, slammed into trees in the median of Interstate 95 and landed on its roof. The accident happened Sunday about 10 miles west of Bangor in south-central Maine.
Two women and a child died when they were thrown from the SUV, while its other four occupants -- a woman and three children -- died inside. Troopers initially thought five people died, but two additional bodies were found when the SUV was lifted, authorities said.
The victims were from South Portland, and four of the children were 8 or younger, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
Killed were Kelley Armstrong, 28, and her 4-year-old son; Danielle St. Paulin, 29, and her three children; and Hope Gagnon, 29. St. Paulin's children ranged in age from 4 to 8.
The Explorer was rented from Hertz at the Portland International Jet Port earlier in the day.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Look what came in with the morning coffee!
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"I blame society. We foster these maniacal tendancies in SUVs." -- Ho Chi Kerry's VVAW Senate Hearings
What idiot does 90 MPH with 4 kids in the car? No doubt the roll over contributed to their deaths, but flat out agressive and illegal driving caused the accident.
I see this all the time, people who don't have a clue how to drive the "big" vehicle their penis envy required them to own.
You drive around in almost any SUV, whipping it around like its a honda civic or something.. taking it just to the limit of its suspensions ability to stay on the ground.. then sooner or later they take it just a little too far, and instead of a spinout, or other issue like a car would do, you wind up rolling the beast.
But thanks so much for giving us
Reckless driving, combined with a vehicle whos dynamics, like it or not, make it far more likely to roll over. Roll over contributed to the death in this accident, as it does in most roll over accidents.
I know people here get all jumping ugly when you bring up the facts about these vehicles, but its reality. Yes, these cars have higher centers of gravity and are far more prone to roll over, when a car rolls over you are far more likely to be thrown from the vehicle, you are far more likely to wind up with head and upper torso indjuries, you are far more likely to be crushed.... that's reality folks.
Cars and other vehicles with lower centers of gravity by and large don't "Roll" in many accidents where SUV's will.. they will spin out, and do other things, but it takes a hell of a lot to get a care to roll over, usually it involves the car hitting and embankment or other thing that puts the car airborne at an odd angle to get a passenger car to roll.
Many people who drive SUV's don't respect this reality, they weave them in and out of traffic like they are in some sports car.
The facts are the facts, and as much as people here may not want to hear it... when involved in accidents, SUV's are more likely to roll, and if your vehicle rolls you are more likely to be seriously injured of killed. That's reality.
Most of what you're saying is true and could be gleaned by reading the BDS (Bangor Daily Snooze).
The women sounded like gimme girls and from what I read, there was no mention of fathers.
What really sparked my BS meter was that all seven were killed yet the media made a big thing about the two poor kids that weren't belted in.
Hey media! They're all dead!
Good question!
Yep, I do blieve...
I hate minivans. I have owned several 4WD vehicles, and have never rolled one. Common sense ought to tell you it is easier to roll a Surburban than a Corvette. Any vehicle in the hands of an idiot can be an instrument of death.
What's worse, it appears that one of the folks thrown from the vehicle lost their kilt.
I drive a Tracker (aka Suzuki Sidekick). I am aware of warnings that the vehicle is more likely to turn over. However, I also drove jeeps in the Army and they had the same issue. I simply temper my driving accordingly.
If you don't drive like Speed Racer, this problem is not going to come up. The responsiblity for this accident lies soley with the driver and the indviduals that let her drive.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Anecdotal evidence not supported by facts. And this is supposed to convince anybody???
Let me guess. The equivalent of wreckless driving?
So let's see, you know this from personal experience because you weren't in an SUV and it didn't flip?
You might want to retake that logic class.
No amount of spin will change that fact. SUV's flip when a minivan or car would not.
Halfway reasonable rollover accidents aren't nearly so bad as a head-on or t-bone. But when you are doing 90mph any accident has serious potential to be fatal.
You can flip anything at that speed, including low slung sports cars. It's a whole lot harder to flip a corvette, but it is a whole lot easier to wind up wedged under something too.
Your can make friends with SUVs by just changing the oil ever 3000 miles.
They do that in east Tennessee, as well. "So and so was killed; h/she wasn't wearing a seatbelt". Imagine my surprise when several people were killed in an accident locally, and the news commentator mentioned that "all those killed Tuesday WERE wearing seat belts". Sometimes they save you, sometimes they don't, sometimes they are even the cause of death. (I'm returning to New Hampshire soon, where you aren't FORCED to wear a belt. Guess they don't need the money...) I am VERY FAMILIAR with that stretch of I-95 in Maine, having driven it well over 100 times. It is relatively straight, with just a few mild curves. The POSTED SPEED LIMIT IS 65 MPH...this woman was doing 90 (for whatever reason), and SHE, not the 'SUV' killed everyone in that vehicle. By the way, for those who say she may have been 'deceived' about her true rate of speed because she was sitting up high in this particular model? Every SUV I have seen comes with a speedometer, and most with cruise control. I give thanks that the poor folks in the car she clipped came through safely. Too many people are killed by idiots who feel they have the right to break the law, which this woman clearly did.
!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah... my wife lost control of her car a couple of years back while transporting her mother to our home. Was on an icey bridge on a turnpike. Rest of the road was not icey. She was doing about 65... car spun.... went across the median on the bridge which was a raised concrete sidewalk 8 feet wide and 16 inches tall. Across the lanes of oncoming traffic, bounced off the concrete bridge wall on the other side... back across the traffic spinning and came to rest with 3 wheels on the bridge median. She was in a Buick Regal that didn't turn over. Was no way a SUV would have pulled that off. Regal was totaled, but both passengers okay (if you don't count scared almost to death).
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