Images – Kingston Police (kpf.ca)
(Editor’s update: It appears that based on a breathalizer test, the woman driving the Ford truck was intoxicated (at 1:30 PM!), and had tow little kids in the car. And the curve in front of this dealership must be a bit tricky, as this is the second time in a month that someone has failed to navigate it. But this one was the more spectacular of the two. Story here: thewhig.com )
Oops! There goes the trade-in value.
That GMC looks sad.
But drunk at 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon with two kids in the car…and only one of them is yours…wow.
Accolades for the application of the added alliterative appeal. Aces.
Affirmatory.
Acclamatorily and acquiescently agreeing.
So a Ford, A GMC and a Dodge go into a bar…
We had a dog that used to do that to strangers’ legs.
OK, I just read the story and apologize for making a joke out of it. I live within 20 miles of the infamous Wrong-Way accident in 2009 in which 8 people were killed, directly related to alcohol and marijuana use. Just a couple of weeks ago another person was killed in the same manner.
@ Barko ;
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No need to apologize ~ the druggies and alcoholics are to blame , i have seen too many dead and mangled bodies and lost far too many friends to this stupid behaviour .
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Making fun of them is PERFECTLY O.K. ! .
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Maybe some day they’ll wake the hell up and see how much misery they cause the rest of the World .
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-Nate
Driving drunk, with not only your kid, but also a friend’s kid in the vehicle??? Epic fail as a mother and as a human being.
This reminds me of a case I read about years ago. A suburban housewife and mom with a history of road rage and reckless driving was driving her daughter and her daughter’s best friend to school- at her usual breakneck pace- when she lost control of her BMW 740 and wrapped it around a tree. The mom was basically unhurt, her daughter severely injured, and the friend was killed.
I don’t remember the outcome. I vaguely remember it being on an episode of 20 / 20 many years back.
Yes difficult to navigate when drunk and speeding, not to mention wet roads.
The old hometown! The building in the background was the Lada dealer in the 1980s – the sign was still up as of last summer.
I have seen this done, usually as a result of the vehicle being in Drive instead of Reverse and jumping a curb/retaining wall, but never this spectacularly…to do this requires talent, and alcohol of course.
She’s damn lucky those kids weren’t killed. As it is, her driving career may be over or seriously curtailed for a while.
I drove by this scene just minutes after it happened. Unbelievable. I thought about stopping to take my own pictures but it was raining and two fire trucks were on the scene and more sirens could be heard off in the distance. I didn’t think I would be helping things at all hanging around as a gawking bystander.
I didn’t know the entire story until after I submitted the pics to Paul N. When I did find out the details, I wondered whether if it was appropriate for me to have shared the pics. But this whole story has turned out to be a horrible case study, and a potential life lesson for others, of what NOT to do behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. It’s alleged that not only was she driving drunk on a rain-slicked road with children in the truck… apparently she was texting too.
http://www.station14.ca/video.html?id=2562
that curve doesn’t look like anything extraordinary:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Automotive+Angels/@44.2424206,-76.6084197,17z/data=!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x0:0x1d317c84bd7ea6f5!2sAutomotive+Angels!3m1!1s0x0:0x1d317c84bd7ea6f5
at least not if you’re sober.
“Problematic bend?”
More like PROBLEMATIC DRIVER. Should lose her license immediately (it may be suspended now, but that’s not enough). Charge her with child endangerment in addition to drunk driving.
She’d probably just go out and drive without a license…so crush what’s left of her truck, too.
After reading the article I agree the owner should be worried. A locale sand and gravel company had a problem of drivers speeding down a 40 mph lane and running the stop sign at the T intersection with the result of tearing down the chain link fence around their pit mine. To counter they placed concrete blocks just inside the fence and reflective signs up on fence. An inebriated motorcyclist approached at an estimated 100 mph which took his and passengers lives. the highway department made them remove the blocks.
Well, I guess Canada isn’t nearly a litigious as the states, so maybe the concrete blocks won’t be as much of an issue.
But if it was the US, the owner would definitely be better advised to cough up the cash and install a proper guard rail/fence in front of his car lot. In fact, the cop saying it was a good thing the blocks were there would seem to be flat-out wrong, as those trucks in the lot, although they would have been more heavily damaged, would have done a better job of absorbing some of the impact force than concrete blocks. Probably the best solution would be a racetrack-style catch fence and just move the car lot vehicles back a ways.
Oh, Canada is very much litigious these days. Another issue here is that the road right-of-way is very wide at this location, reflecting both an old alignment of the road (formerly a provincial highway) and a now-closed street that used to T in about where the sidewalk ends in the first photo. The concrete blocks and the vehicles for sale are all located in the right-of-way. While there’s no doubt that a driver 3x over the legal limit (and reportedly using a cell phone) was responsible for the crash, the business introduced hazards which exacerbated the level of damage (and possibly injuries) for which it may very well be held liable. The municipality should have known about the encroachment and acted to remedy it.
My vision of this pit mine is that the concrete blocks my be trying to keep idiot drivers from going into the pit – but maybe that is much further back. And, it seems protecting their workers might be part of it as well. Catch 22 if you ask me.
We have a major thoroughfare near my neighborhood that ends in a T intersection with another major road. The top of the T is a 25 foot high, 200 foot wide concrete retaining wall. It’s been a hit a few times, but nothing fatal yet. They’d have to remove multiple houses in a subdivision to change the design. I don’t think it is going anywhere, and the city, which owns the wall, would not likely pay anything out for the death of a moron.
What curve?
Seeing the lead photo before opening the article, my brain said that scene reeks of alcohol, and sure enough…
In my college days, my drinking and driving habits probably left something to be desired. Rather instantly after getting my first “real job,” I was too busy to be stupid anymore.
As a parent, the closest I come to drinking and driving is having one beer or drink at a restaurant while we wait for a table, or early in the meal. I leave stone sober, and well within any legal limits.
I must be doing something right. My kids occasionally notice a noisy table in the restaurant where the people have obviously been drinking – by evidence of empty bottles and glasses. They’ve commented that I never seem to have more than one drink, and I tell them, I know, I want to get us all home safe.
I was going to post a blog with pictures of an incident similar to this. Unfortunately, I’m too stupid to figure out how to resize my pictures to fit WordPress’ limits. 🙁
A sad thing indeed .
The worse part is : she’ll prolly just get a slap on her worthless wrist .
-Nate
Passenger Egbert Souse (accent grave over the E) who had been with the driver at The Black Pussy Cat Cafe earlier that day reportedly told the driver as she crashed into the concrete barriers that “the resale value of this car is going to be nil after this trip.”
Did I ever tell you about the time that I drank a glass of water?
W.C FIELDS
This might be a good time to rotate the tires.
Uh…
Built Ford Tough?
Oh look, a Saturn Relay! Glad the kids were not hurt.
What curve thats a nearly straight piece of road, whoever did that has a very small driving skill set.
If she was texting or glancing at her cell phone before approaching the curve, that would explain the trajectory. She would have continued in a straight line right into the concrete barriers.
There’s been comments about her possibly getting a “slap on the wrist”. No matter the legal outcome, from a financial standpoint, she will probably have to claim personal bankruptcy because of this maneuver.
1. If she is convicted of impaired driving, the car insurance won’t pay for the damages she did to the truck (a probable write-off). She was operating a vehicle illegally. An insurance company will reimburse the car lot owner for damages to the vehicles on his lot, but then the insurance company will then sue her directly for reimbursement of that claim.
2. She would be foolish not to retain a lawyer in this situation.
3. If she is convicted of distracted driving using a cell phone, the fine for that offense is now a maximum of $1,000. Given the circumstances she will probably be fined to the max.
4. The repercussions of an impaired driving conviction in Ontario are harsh. a) Monetary fine. b) Criminal record. c) One year driving suspension. d) Stratospheric car insurance rates. d) Ignition interlock device required after the driving suspension is over. These devices are expensive to install and remove, and also have a lease rate of around $100 per month during the time they are installed.
It’s pretty hard to find a silver lining in all of this, but she is damned lucky she didn’t injure or kill anybody. Upon conviction for impaired, she would be liable for all costs.
http://www.melochemonnex.com/en/car-insurance/articles/car_insurance_drinking#article-1
Fender defender surrender.
@Bill Hetherington. All 50 states here in the U.S. should have similar laws and consequences for operating a vehicle while impaired and/or distracted. I’ve seen so many instances where a driver with previous offenses gets in the car again and kills someone. Most recently, here in CT, a State Trooper was one of the victims. Driver went away for 9 years, finally.
Well there are a bunch of pickups that ISIS won’t get.
“Well, looky there… The article says, it was a “woman driver”. Well THAT explains everythin, you stupid Meathead.”
Archie Bunker
Naw! I don’t think I want it. What else to you have?