Senseless loss

After thinking about it for a few hours, we realized this morning’s Alki Avenue crash that killed 2 teenagers reminds us more of the crash that killed 3 teens on the bridge three months ago, than the Alki Ave crash this past spring. We’ve all been that age; we all know how much you don’t want to listen to adult BTDT wisdom when you’re brimming with the impatience of youth … but if only we could make them listen. And if only we could all join together in protecting them. Who sold or gave them the beer that police were photographed hauling out of the water near the wreckage? Were they young enough that they could or should have had curfews, and been home long before the 5 am death plunge? Truly senseless, in every sense … of the word.

8 Replies to "Senseless loss"

  • cami September 25, 2006 (7:42 am)

    I remember when I was 15 years old, three boys from another area highschool slammed into a tree doing 100mph and they all died instantly. They had been partying of course. It made a huge impression on me that has stayed with me all these years. If anything good can come of this, maybe area teens will think about this accident the next time they are out late, driving and partying. Many residents on the news reflected on the last accident at Alki and how 4 people of died in speed related accidents at nearly the same location. I don’t believe the police could have prevented this one.

  • Mickymse September 25, 2006 (10:47 am)

    I don’t believe the police could have really prevented this one, either… On the other hand, we might want to consider what is changing about Alki and the beach that is leading to this increase in accidents.

    I, too, immediately thought of the Bridge accident. And I wonder if this increase is related to the changes in the people now coming to Alki on a regular basis.

  • guest September 25, 2006 (11:25 am)

    What is changing about Alki? “Changes in the people now coming to Alki”

    What are you saying Mickymse? I think that this is a very sad incident and not one that could have been prevented by police (maybe speed humps?). However, I am getting frustrated with this approach by residents as well as the news that we have all of these “bad” people making their way to Alki now. Would you also say that the bars are to blame for this accident? That the bars are what bring the “rif raf” over to Alki? I don’t get it. Although this is a very sad situation it is not what is changing particularly at Alki, but everywhere.

    The changes in people now coming to Alki?

  • guest no2 September 25, 2006 (12:29 pm)

    from one of the victim’s myspace page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=20432806

    “MY NAME IS ROY – DONT DRINK N DRIVE – DRIVE N DRINK”

    hmmm….

    Thank god they didn’t kill any innocent bystanders.

  • Administrator September 25, 2006 (7:26 pm)

    For the record, I don’t believe people are inherently bad. I believe people are inherently good. I’ve seen the myspace pages and yeah, these guys don’t exactly sound like Boy Scouts. Doesn’t mean they deserved to die.

  • guest no2 September 26, 2006 (9:12 am)

    nobody deserves to die, but acting in certain ways will definitely increase your chances. I am very active in the car community and every so often someone will kill themselves driving like an idiot on our public byways. The comments in the forums always begin with the “whys?” and the sadness. They invariably turn to “that would never happen to me because I had driving skills/better tires/better car/etc.” They just don’t get it.

    Maybe it is youthful ignorance. Maybe it is a lack of sound parenting. Who knows? The one thing that is for sure is that some of these kids need to wake up to reality and start acting like adults. Doing 100mph on Alki Ave is just plain stupid and puts more than your life in jeopardy. While he may not have deserved to die, he was definitely asking for it.

  • The House September 26, 2006 (10:09 pm)

    Time for The House to weigh in on this matter. Now that speed & alcohol are “official” reasons for this incident, it was definitely Darwin’s Theory working it’s magic. I’m thankful that there weren’t any early morning walkers, joggers or cyclists that were plowed by these idiots. I took the liberty of exploring one of the guys MySpace web pages. With the statement “F**CK LIFE” and “Don’t drink and drive, drive and drink”, on his page it sounds like this kid lived up to all of his expectations. He also stated that the one person he’d like to meet is Jesus. I wonder how that’s going for him?

  • lmjones September 28, 2006 (1:11 am)

    I live in West Seattle and Alki is not the only place people speed. The West Seattle bridge is terrible for speeders. Why in the heck is everyone in West Seattle in so much of a hurry? I go the posted speed limit everyday and there are always people riding my butt. People need to wake up and take responsibility. No one deserves to die, but unfortunately some people need a tragedy to wake their stupid asses up!

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