Take a good look at the people in this photo, taken today by the Hartford Courant.
This husband and wife just learned their 15-year-old daughter had been killed in a high-speed car crash in Wolcott. If you have kids who are new drivers, show them this picture. Make them understand that this couple just died a little bit. Make them understand the anquish will never go away and will extend like horrible tendrils through many lives for many years.
The Wolcott crash today also killed the 17-year-old driver and his 14-year-old sister. Just try and imagine what that family is feeling. The driver made a rookie mistake. He tried to pass a vehicle turning into a parking lot and drove into the path of an oncoming truck.
Police said the driver was speeding. Of course he was. Young people driving fast is part of our culture now. They are aided and abetted by car companies that emphasize racy performance and parents who seem to have no problem buying their children cars they don’t know how to properly drive.
Recently in Bristol, four teenage lives were snuffed out in an instant is an eerily similar crash, right down to the kind of car being driven by the inexperienced driver. This carnage has got to stop. It appears the driver was charged with DUI earlier this year. He already had his license back. This is madness. Raise the driving age to 18. Enforce speed limits and take away licenses.
Who would support such things? Take a good look at this photo.