Seven killed in SUV crash (Vehicle of death alert)

AP ^ | Monday, May 10, 2004

[presidio9]

A rented SUV was speeding at more than 90 mph when it clipped a car it was trying to pass and veered out of control, killing seven people inside, including four young children, authorities said.

The Ford Explorer went airborne, slammed into trees in the median of Interstate 95 and landed on its roof. The accident happened Sunday about 10 miles west of Bangor in south-central Maine.

Two women and a child died when they were thrown from the SUV, while its other four occupants -- a woman and three children -- died inside. Troopers initially thought five people died, but two additional bodies were found when the SUV was lifted, authorities said.

The victims were from South Portland, and four of the children were 8 or younger, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Killed were Kelley Armstrong, 28, and her 4-year-old son; Danielle St. Paulin, 29, and her three children; and Hope Gagnon, 29. St. Paulin's children ranged in age from 4 to 8.

The Explorer was rented from Hertz at the Portland International Jet Port earlier in the day.

[kenth]

It's sad.

It's also disgusting to see the left continually use the deaths of people to further their agenda. Why else would we continually see articles such as this implicate the vehicle as the perpetrator of such accidents?

[Rummyfan]

These SUVs seem to have minds of their own!

[GaltMeister]

Another one of those 'wild and crazy' SUV's.

No mention of a driver - thank god nobody was driving it when it went wild - would have been another casualty. /sarcasm

[TommyDale]

At a speed in excess of 90 miles per hour, any vehicle would have suffered the same consequences. Why bother to even mention the term 'SUV'?

[SeeRushToldU_So]

I saw this on Foxnews last night. Witnesses said the driver was driving on the emergency lane at 90+.

[presidio9]

This accident happened in Maine. CNN has it on their national news front page. I said a prayer for this family, but I can't help wondering whether they would have survived if they were traveling in a car. But then CNN would presumably not considered this to be a major news story. Seems to me that the 90mph speed was the main contributor to their deaths.

[GungaLaGunga]

CNN. Consider the source.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

I have had 5 SUVs in my life, I have never driven that fast in one. I am not comfortable in an SUV at near that speed.

[traumer]

The reason of SUV drivers cruising at a high speed is because the drivers sit HIGH above the road. They have a distorted impression of their speed. There is no 'ground effect' as in a low sports car.

And besides that they feel invulnerable.

[hunter112]

And you don't get thrown from a vehicle if you're wearing a belt, either.

[Darnright]

>A rented SUV was speeding at more than 90 mph when it veered out of control, killing seven people inside, including four young children, authorities said.<

Well, I guess it did, seeing that the dang fool driving it was SPEEDING at 90 MPH!!!!!

Liberals, gotta love 'em.

[Living Free in NH]

Witnesses said the driver was driving on the emergency lane at 90+.

On a suspended license.

[Redbob]

Helloooo!

The reason 7 were killed in an SUV is that there's no passenger car sold today that will HOLD 7 people!

You want to pin responsibility on someone? Other than the fool driving 90 with a car load of kids?

Try blaming the Congress that passed CAFE, thus sentencing Americans with families to buy trucks to transport them in.

[kellynla]

90mph?
some real irresponsible adults with 4 children in their care!

[LonghornFreeper]

It is a simple fact that in accidents involving SUV's the mortality rate is higher both for those in the SUV and for those in the other vehicles. No amount of spin will change that fact. SUV's flip when a minivan or car would not.

I know this from personal experience. Last summer on I-20 coming home to Texas from Georgia I was in a minivan with 3 friends. I was driving, and I was passing a truck at about 75 with cruise control on. He decided to move over quickly and without warning when we were halfway past him. He hit us and knocked us into the median, the airbag went off and I lost control of the vehicle. We made an almost 90 degree left turn, crossed the median and the other side of the highway, and slammed into the upsloping ground on the other side. The van was totaled, but the worst injury any of us had was some glass embedded in one persons arm. If we had been in an SUV, it would have flipped and we would be dead now.

Unless you are doing real farm work, in which case you would have a truck, or are going off road, there is nothing that an SUV does that a minivan doesn't do better. If you want to drive an SUV, that is fine, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, and I am not proposing that the goverment do anything about it. Next time we have to make nice to Saudi Arabia you will know why.

[familyofman]

The driver was the cause of this accident. The reports I have seen said the speeding vehicle tried to pass 2 other vehicles (1 in each lane, travel & passing) using the 'break down' lane. The speeding vehicle in the break down lane swerved into one of the other cars and lost control. Poor, really poor driver judgement caused this tradgedy. I wonder if the driver had any experience with an SUV prior to renting this one.

[NewHampshireDuo]

This woman had no license (she had lost it because of violations), was driving 90 mph passing 2 cars on the right hand side (breakdown lane), clipped one of the cars which was legally in the left lane passing the other vehicle in the right lane, and lost control. There were no child seats in the vehicle, only 2 of the people were in a seatbelt, and in the article I read, she had a great love of race car driving. Of course, it could have been worse. The car she clipped was not damaged, and the driver of that car was not injured. She was a stupid, stupid driver...

[Dead Dog]

That's why soda can drivers drive too slow, they have a distorted impression of their lack of speed. Besides, they feel self righteous in their feeling of vulnerability.