2 killed in handcart trek

[_Dr. Shades]

The Nehor posted:



Damned bikers need to stay out of the road!

From my reading of the story and comments, it seems the handcart was on the side of the highway; . . .

No, it was even worse: The photos make it perfectly clear that the handcart was in the middle of the freakin' lane! Observe:







What the Hell did this guy expect to happen??

[_Scottie]

You know, every day when I come home from work I have to dodge upwards of 15 kids darting out into the street on their bikes. Or riding down the middle of the road without any intentions of moving for a car.

I NEVER let my kids play in the road, and make sure they always stop and look before going into a road. What in the HELL is wrong with people these days???

[_Boaz & Lidia]

ouch.

Now we finally have a real similarity between these ridiculous handcart reinactments and the original handcart companies. Very poor choices result in death.

I can only hope Jewish parents don't send their kids to summer concentration camps.

[_The Nehor]

Very poor choices result in death.

If only that were more often true.

[_Moniker]

This is just awful. How saddening to have something that is supposed to be fun and uplifting turn into such a terrible tragedy. Oh, how awful for her parents, family and friends. Also the other children that were there that witnessed the accident must be traumatized, as well.

How sad.

[_Dr. Shades]

Very poor choices result in death.

If only that were more often true.

Although I feel really bad about the 14 year-old girl who is now deceased--she was still a child, and therefore can't be held accountable for the poor choices of the adults who were her designated caregivers--I can't feel quite as bad about the dude who wilfully chose to push covered wagons and handcarts down the middle of a paved road which, if I have my facts right, is a place where automobiles tend to drive at much higher rates of speed.

Do I smell a Darwin Award?

[_Scottie]

Although I feel really bad about the 14 year-old girl who is now deceased--she was still a child, and therefore can't be held accountable for the poor choices of the adults who were her designated caregivers--I can't feel quite as bad about the dude who wilfully chose to push covered wagons and handcarts down the middle of a paved road which, if I have my facts right, is a place where automobiles tend to drive at rather higher rates of speed.

Do I smell a Darwin Award?

If you have had children you aren't eligibile for a darwin award.

Darwin awards are awarded for those who take their genes out of the human gene pool.

[_The Dude]

If you have had children you aren't eligibile for a darwin award.

Darwin awards are awarded for those who take their genes out of the human gene pool.

If you let your children be killed then your genes are out of the gene pool. I think a Darwin award might be appropriate.

I can only hope Jewish parents don't send their kids to summer concentration camps.

Perfect!

[_cinepro]

After our stake youth went on a trek, I was going to write a satire about a new, hard-core trek reenactment Company that runs handcart treks that are so realistic, they limit the medical care to 19th century medical techniques, and allow a statistically appropriate number of participants to die each trek.

This type of trek would have at least 20% more spirituality than the conventional "sanitized" treks, with at least 37% more youth crying at the final testimony meeting than a regular trek.

But it wouldn't be funny anymore.


I also wonder how these youth will be accepted in heaven when they get there. Will they try to hang out with the spirits of other pioneers that died in the 1800's? Will people ask them how they died and they'll be like "I was pulling a handcart, and I didn't make it." And other spirits will be like "Ohhhhh...you were a pioneer..." and then another pioneer will be like "No he wasn't. He was living in 2008, and was dressed up in a costume pulling a handcart to that evening's barbecue before going back to his air-conditioned home and packaged foods." And then no one will even make eye-contact with them, because it's just a little awkward.

[_Ray A]

Is anyone asking why the driver was going so fast in hazzardous conditions? From the report Bond linked:

Just ten minutes after leaving their camp, a pickup truck struck them from behind. Trooper Cameron Roden of the Utah Highway Patrol said, "The 13-year-old female was behind the handcart walking and was struck by the vehicle. The vehicle then veered to the left where it struck a 74-year-old male who saw the vehicle coming and was trying to flag down the driver, to get his attention to stop, when he was struck and killed as well. Both died on scene."

The driver of a pickup truck, which was also headed up the canyon, was blinded by the sun and crashed into the back of the handcart.

This is a common driving hazzard, and there's a simple rule when you encounter it - slow down to a much safer speed. Unfortunately many people don't, and in effect drive blind, especially if they know the road, but can't see what other objects may be ahead. Another obvious safety measure is to wear sunglasses, which reduces this hazzard to a large extent. How fast was the driver going in these unsafe conditions?

I guess the police will determine that, and if found culpable manslaughter charges might not be off the cards:

The driver of the truck was not hurt. Prosecutors will review the accident investigation before determining if any charges will be filed against him.

Yeah, maybe the organisers should have been more prepared for this, sounds like it to me, but in most cases like this the driver is the one most responsible. Theoretically anyone could have been on the road, including a broken down car, which is why responsibility lies primarily with the driver.

[/former driving instructor]