Preteen driver ticketed in crash
Posted on 03/26/2002 1:58:16 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Preteen driver ticketed in crash
Girl, 5 others hurt; 12-year-old reportedly took relative's vehicle
03/26/2002
GRAND PRAIRIE - A 12-year-old Grand Prairie girl who took her grandmother's car without permission was ticketed after police said the car she was driving collided with a pickup, sending herself and five others to area hospitals Monday morning.
The accident occurred as the 12-year-old girl attempted to elude her parents, who had just spotted her as they searched the streets of Grand Prairie shortly after discovering that the girl and the car were missing.
"I don't ever recall having anyone this young getting involved in such a serious wreck," Grand Prairie police Sgt. Eric Hansen said.
The girl who is not being identified because she is a minor could face a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle, he said. The girl received three misdemeanor traffic citations for driving without a license, having no insurance and failure to yield the right of way, police said. A Grand Prairie Municipal Court judge will handle the tickets.
The accident occurred about 8 a.m., as the girl and two passengers traveled north on Carrier Parkway, police said. She failed to yield the right of way on a left-hand turn onto Mayfield Road and collided with a pickup traveling south, Sgt. Hansen said.
Joe Weatherford of Grand Prairie, who was driving the pickup, was treated and released from Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Sgt. Hansen said. His 8-year-old son Trever and 6-year-old daughter Chloe were treated and released from Children's Medical Center.
Grand Prairie resident Francisco Flores, 18, a front-seat passenger in the car driven by the 12-year-old, was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown into a back seat by the impact, Sgt. Hansen said. He was flown to Parkland Hospital, where he was in critical condition. His updated condition was not available Monday night.
An 11-year-old girl, who was in a back seat, was taken to Methodist Medical Center and was transferred to Children's Medical Center in serious condition Monday afternoon, Sgt. Hansen said.
The 12-year-old driver was treated at Children's Medical Center, police said. She was released Monday into the custody of her parents, Sgt. Hansen said.
Police said the girl had just dropped off a fourth passenger at a nearby Kohl's department store when her parents spotted the car minutes before the accident, Sgt. Hansen said.
At 6 a.m. Monday, the parents awoke to find a cellphone missing, and the car keys and car gone, police said. They filed a runaway report, then began driving around looking for the girl.
As she dropped off her passenger, her parents began following her. At some point, police said, she saw her parents driving behind her, Sgt. Hansen said.
"She was trying to evade them," he said.
Speed did not appear to be a factor in the collision, he said.
It is against the law for someone younger than 15 to drive a car, Sgt. Hansen said.
The girl's parents could not be reached for comment Monday.
Sgt. Cliff Luster, head of Grand Prairie's auto theft unit, said it was up to the girl's parents to decide whether a charge for unauthorized use of a vehicle would be pursued.
DallasNews.com staff writer Kimberly Durnan contributed to this report.
E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com
Regards,
This whole accident wouldn't have happened if those awful parents hadn't interfered . . . why couldn't they have just gone to bed and let the girl alone? Everybody does it, and the parents just frightened the poor kid . . .
It sounds as if all she is going to get is a "slap on the wrist".....
The girl received three misdemeanor traffic citations for driving without a license, having no insurance and failure to yield the right of wayThree strangers treated and released, one child in serious condition and another in critical condition . . . the question could easily be, "What mantle?"
I see a future NASCAR driver in the making here ;-)
I missed that! That's a horse of a different color; he's probably an insured driver and, when this case gets to court, will be the nearest "deep pockets" for the lawyers to go after. And he wasn't wearing a seat belt. The fact that he was, at his age, participating in a joyride with a 12-year-old . . . he's the worst-injured of the five, but he is as responsible as anyone for his own injuries.
18 vs. 12 . . . bears comparison to a statutory rape situation. Any responsible adult would have grabbed the keys and prevented the accident in the first place.
good.
That overstates. But someone might get mentioned for a Darwin Award for a stunt like that . . .
But, your comments are interesting......you are probably right that "if", and that is a big if, he is insured, the lawyers could go after him..... Maybe someone with expertise in insurance can tell us.
The parents noticed the car missing at 6AM, and finally found their daughter dropping off a passenger, followed her, she attempted to evade them, with the accident occuring around 8AM.
Sad indeed.
Agreed. She's done this before.
Regards
On reflection, the fact that she tried to evade her parents had to do with that as well as the joyriding, didn't it?! When she saw her parents she likely told the boy to hide!
How can they suspend her license??? She doesn't have no stinkin' license!
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