DOUGLAS, Ga. — A car collided head-on with an all-terrain vehicle (search) on a rural road, killing five children on the ATV and critically injuring a sixth, officials said.





Charges were pending Monday against the car's driver, Amanda Michelle Troupe, 29, said Gordy Wright, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

The children were on the ATV when the Lincoln sedan (search) crossed the centerline and hit the four-wheeler, said Joann Lacey, a radio operator in the Douglas state patrol post.

Wright said the state patrol's Specialized Collision Reconstruction team (search) would investigate and present evidence, including the results of a blood test on Troupe, to the district attorney.

One of the children killed, 14-year-old Coranne Megan Nelson, was driving the off-road vehicle, which is not permitted on a public street, without a driver's license.

The other victims were Dustin Varnedore, 11, and his 13-year-old sister, Kayla, of Wray; Lindsay Joiner, 13, of Douglas and Courtney Arsenault, 10, of Alma.

Heather Bass, 13, of Ambrose, was flown by helicopter to Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, where she was listed Monday in critical condition.

Coffee County Sheriff Rob Smith had to hold back tears when he talked with reporters about the accident in south-central Georgia.

"These young people were just beginning their life and some of them are my neighbors," he said.

The accident happened after 9 p.m. on Smith Cemetery Road, which separates Coffee and Irwin counties, about 10 miles northwest of Douglas, officials said.

Donna Reynolds, a farm safety specialist with the Georgia Farm Bureau (search), said she often sees children and adults riding ATVs on roads.

"People are riding ATVs everywhere and people look at them as a toy," she said. "They are not toys. Period."

I read this on the Yamaha thread and thought I should post this here.

 

My reply-

My thoughts go out to the families involved, its always devastating losing someone in such a tragic way, no matter who's to blame. Now, those children should have never been put into that position. It was 9:00 P.M at night! Where were the parents at? 6 kids on a quad? Doesn't take much common sense to figure out that you're just asking for trouble riding like that! As for the driver of the vehicle, if she wasn't intoxicated, there's not much that can be done to her, but if she was, then I hope they prosecute her to the fullest extent! Remember, if she wouldn't of hit them, she would have probably hit the next driver coming down the road. Sad, yet frustrating at the same time.

 

thanks for posting it here. I don't usually visit the yamaha forum. As for the accident, I don't know where to begin. Terribly tragic for all involved. I shall invoke my "fun police" badge and wonder why they were riding 6-up after dark? Were they going home or just going out? Did ANY of the 5 sets of parents know what they were doing? Shouldn't a 10 year old be in bed by 9? Did they have helmets? Did the parents teach them safety? Or does safety take too much fun out of it (at the risk of life - or 5)? Did their quad have funtional headlights? were they on? Were they ever told not to ride on the road?

I won't comment on the driver - they don't know if Alcohol was involved and give little other info in the article. But I would think she'd be on the verge of a breakdown after causing this, even if it's entirely the fault of the children. I just couldn't imagine. 5.

Once again, unsafe ATV riding has given our sport another black eye.

 

I posted a news story in the yamaha forums post, they were at a birthday party for the girl who owned the quad. (a timberwolf).

A volunteer fireman showed up at the accident and found his own son and daughter dead, he did CPR on his daughter but was unsuccesful.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

Nerves of steel to keep yourself together enough to do CPR in a situation like that. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] indeed

 

What Warrior007 posted-

Tuesday September 23, 2003 9:19 AM


By ELLIOTT MINOR

Associated Press Writer

DOUGLAS, Ga. (AP) - Volunteer firefighter David Varnedore rushed to the scene of a car accident prepared to help strangers in need. Then he came across the body of his own son. And then the body of his elder daughter.

Varnedore's two children were among five youngsters killed Saturday night when a car on a curving road struck an all-terrain vehicle the kids had crowded onto during a birthday party. A sixth child was critically injured.

When Varnedore got to the scene, his son Dustin, 11, was lying face down in a pool of blood. ``There was no hope for him,'' Varnedore recalled Monday, gasping with emotion between every word.

A few feet away, Varnedore found his daughter, Kayla, 13. ``My daughter was laying face up and I did CPR on her to no avail,'' said Varnedore, who lives only a mile away.

The other victims were Lindsay Joiner, 13 of Douglas; Courtney Arsenault, 10, of Alma; and the ATV's driver, Coranne Megan Nelson, 14. Another partygoer, Heather Bass, 13, was listed in critical condition Monday.

The car's driver, Amanda Michelle Troupe, 29, of Ambrose, could face charges, investigators said. They were awaiting the results of blood tests on whether she had been drinking.

Troupe, whose car crossed the center line before hitting the four-wheeler, was injured in the crash, but her condition was not immediately disclosed. Two other people in the car suffered minor injuries, police said.

Residents of the rural area said the children had attended Nelson's birthday party and decided to celebrate afterward by going for a ride on her ATV.

The off-road vehicle was built for one adult rider, said Gordy Wright, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Public Safety. None of the youngsters was wearing a helmet and Nelson should not have been driving the vehicle on a public road.

``It's just an awful tragedy,'' said Mayor Max Lockwood. ``All the families hope this leads to a better understanding of safety. The kids were in a rural neighborhood, and children just like to hop on those things and ride around in the country.''

Varnedore returned to the scene Monday afternoon with his parents, Carol and David Varnedore Sr. About a dozen others gathered there to mourn the young victims.

Dots of orange paint, left by the accident investigators, traced the car's skid marks and blue flags marked the spots where bodies were found. Painted orange circles showed where the car hit the ATV and where key parts of the vehicles had landed.

``You see that spot of blood? That was my son,'' said the 30-year-old truck driver who became a volunteer firefighter when he was 16. ``You see this spot of orange paint? That was my daughter.''

Before hurrying home to console his wife and to be with their remaining child, a 2-year-old daughter, Varnedore said the mangled bodies he saw in the ditch made him throw up.

``I won't even tell you what I saw,'' he said.

The ditch and roadside were littered for about 75 yards with bits of clothing, including a blue and gray tennis shoe, a cloth ponytail holder, a baseball cap and the car's badly mangled front bumper.

The impact of the collision along the two-lane road knocked some candy the young victims had gotten at the party from their pockets and left it scattered along the road.

The accident occurred on a road that separates Coffee and Irwin counties, about 10 miles northwest of Douglas, officials said. The collision happened on a road bordered on one side by forest and the other by pasture.

Donna Reynolds, a safety specialist with the Georgia Farm Bureau, said she often sees children and adults riding ATVs on roads. ``People are riding ATVs everywhere and people look at them as a toy,'' she said. ``They are not toys. Period.''

At West Coffee Middle School, which four of the children attended, counselors went into classrooms Monday to talk to students. The pupils wrote condolence cards to the families.

^---

On the Net:

ATV Safety Institute: http://www.atvsafety.org/index9.html




http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/s...180707,00.html

 

The woman had been drinking and now it is a homicide case. Still doesn't make up for the stupidity for allowing that many kids on an ATV.