Three times the legal limit.
Posted on 12/31/2007 7:46:53 AM PST by RDTF
Five members of a Maryland family died late yesterday when their minivan was hit head-on by a pickup truck going the wrong way on a Toledo, Ohio-area interstate, according to the Toledo Blade.
Bethany Griffin, 36, and Jordan Griffin, 10, of Parkville, Md., to the northeast of Baltimore, were pronounced dead at the scene, along with Lacie Burkman, 7, and Haley Burkman, 10, police sources told the Blade. Lacie and Haley Burkman are from Redford, Mich., according to the Associated Press.
Six-month-old Vadi Griffin was pronounced dead after being taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.
Danny Griffin, 36, of Parkville, driver of the minivan, was in serious condition at St. Vincent this morning, the Blade reported. Sidney Griffin, 8, of Parkville, was in critical condition, hospital sources told the Blade; Beu Burkman, 8, address unknown, was in serious condition.
-snip-
Police told the Blade that Michael Gagnon, 24, of Adrian, Mich., the driver of the pickup, was injured and taken to St. Vincent, but the hospital did not provide the newspaper with information on a person bearing that name.
The Blade says Gagnon had been drinking at a bar; employees at a Taco Bell he visited after leaving the bar reportedly notified police of an intoxicated driver. The crash, the Blade reports, took place around 10:55 p.m.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
senseless selfishness kills again
why is it the drunks always walk away with “minor injuries”?
Like the test results one way or the other are going to make this poor family any less dead. The only test this driver needs is a pulse test a few minutes after the potassium chloride starts.
It does always seem that way. This time, it was probably because the victims brought a 4000lb minivan to a 5500lb truck crash.
another article:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14949997/detail.html
Mother, 4 children killed in accident
We just had a crash like this in NJ - three members of a family killed, but the wrong way driver (also pickup truck, bottle of alcohol) was killed too. He was 74 which might make the difference.
An Adrian man has been charged with five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide after the pickup truck he was driving collided with a minivan on Interstate 280 in Toledo killing a mother and four children inside.
What the hell difference does that make?
Here in Jacksonville FL it is like a gladiator pit on the highways. My next car, gas milage be damnned I’m getting the one with the best crash rating. Any (serious) suggestions (i.e. not a Peterbilt)?
5 from family die in crash on I-280; wrong-way driver had 0.254 blood-alcohol
Gagnon ought to be up on murder charges.
Prayers for the family.
Three times the legal limit.
More info at this link, with some pics from the crash scene...
5 from family die in crash on I-280; wrong-way driver had 0.254 blood-alcohol
Gagnon ought to be up on murder charges.
Prayers for the family
________________
I Agree.
I read some report from the Detroit News where this loser was walking around after the accident complaining his precious jaw hurt.
I have no words.
And a quote from Michael GAGnon’s brother stating something like, “We thought this was going to be a great New Years Eve, and now we have to deal with the fact our brother could be spending the rest of his life in jail.”
NOTHING about the family that was killed.
Trash...utter trash.
Mr. Gagnon was driving a Ford F350 pickup truck...
Feel better?
Mass is your friend. Given similar crash test ratings - and the IIHS 40mph into a wall test has been going on long enough that pretty much every new vehicle has been engineered to pass it with a ‘good’ - every extra pound you bring with you is that much less acceleration when something hits you. (And also that much less acceleration when you put a gram of fuel into the engine.)
Ford makes the portliest pickups and large SUVs on the road, which would be a good place to start looking. Also in your favor there is that it’s significantly more difficult to be hit by a drunk driver when you’re standing in the dealership with your vehicle down for the count in the service bay.
Gagnon, you goin’ down, holmes!
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
I stand corrected. They brought a 4000lb minivan to a 8500lb truck crash.
One of our local judges once complained that it’s harder than Hades to get juries around here to convict in DWI cases because a lot of jurors have driven impaired and think there but for the grace of God go they. Pity they don’t seem to give as much thought to the victims and their families. Not to mention the fact that the jurors and their families could someday be victims, too. I bet voir dire keeps victims of drunk drivers off juries. It ought to keep the drunk drivers off, too.
Maybe this senseless killing will stop when we have the death penalty for drunk driving murders. This guy will get a suspended license and possibly serve two years probation.
No, I don’t. And it’s extremely crude and nasty of you to suggest otherwise.
However, had it been one of those trucks we’re forced to admit via agreements such as NAFTA, it would simply have added another deimension to a horrible story. So now we know it was domestic.
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