” Payette County officials talk about leveling hill where fatal crash occurred ”
This headline turned my head. I thought it was one of those infamous story title flubs. But the headline speaks the truth!
It was a tragic event that occurred in a small farming community west of Boise. Two 15-year olds were killed last weekend when the pickup one of them was driving flew off the road and slammed into a tree. Let me say right up front that my heart grieves for the parents and families of these two boys. There is nothing more devastating than having to bury your child.
But, I am appalled to think that anyone would even consider defacing the landscape as a logical outcome to faulty teenaged decisions. As reported in the local paper, the vehicle crested a hill at an, as yet, undetermined speed. When the air-borne pickup touched down on the other side of the hill, the young driver lost control and that was pretty much the end of the story for these two young friends. Friends to death. Sad. Tragic. My heart hearts.
But people, this boy was driving with a learner’s permit which strictly forbade him to have passengers other than adults or family members. There is a reason for this restriction. He broke the law.
The road the boys were on is a rural road without curbs, gutters, or even lane markings. There is an intersection nearby with no stop sign. I was taught to handle such roads with caution: be prepared to stop, keep your eyes open and your speed down. But the hill on this road has lured joy-seeking kids for years. Catching air in the family car is a teenage art, like huffing, like the choking game. And, like those other games, it is a deadly art. One mistake and you’re toast.
Kids have been taking risks for years. Kids will always be prone to taking risks. When I was a teenager, it was drunk driving and LSD. We cannot eliminate danger from kids’ lives. What we can do, however, is talk to our kids. Teach our kids, keep an eye on our kids. We can know when our kids are driving and with whom and where they are going.
To presume that we can alter the landscape to protect kids from their own need for thrills is lunacy. The kids will find another, equally dangerous thrill to pursue. I say, we need to use the senseless death of this two boys—pillars of their community—as a lesson to all of their classmates and those classmates behind them. “This is your life! Don’t waste it on cheap thrills!”
How about placing a memorial in the school parking lot as a reminder? It could be anything: photos of the boys or how about a sculpture? Haul the remains of that Ford F-250 to the exit of the school parking lot, anchor it to a pedestal and plant flowers around the base. Let it haunt the friends of those boys, and the kids of the friends of those boys, and the next generation, and the next . . .
Rangewriter 
Oooohhhh, I like the trashed truck as a reminder memorial! It’s so incredibly sad but these things are so needed to remind students not to act like… well… teenagers.
I found this interesting in the article “apparently Sternberg was driving fast and went airborne on a hill”… Well… YEAH if you go above the speed limit you are going to put yourself at risk!
I saw that a neighbor suggested a stop sign. That makes sense, although people who are breaking the law and WANT to go airborne on a hill aren’t going to pay attention to that. What about speed humps or speed bumps that prevent people from getting any speed at all? I live in the south and we don’t have anything but flat flat land. Sometimes we have curves but mostly the roads are just FLAT. Which means that a lot of areas have speed humps, especially in residential areas or areas where people are known to speed.
I feel bad for the community but I think leveling a hill would not only destroy the landscape, as you mentioned, but would cost a whole lot more than other more effective means of preventing accidents.
LikeLike
So incredibly true! I found it interesting that the county deemed the stop sign superfluous for this locale (one of many similar locales) and yet they are actually considering modifying the terrain? Ummm It’s beyond me.
LikeLike
Everything is made ‘safe’ these days, to the extent that people – kids, teens, adults – aren’t allowed to live their (our) own lives in any natural way. Levelling a hill? Bloody stupid!
And yes, the kids should learn lessons from their own and others actions. It’s a tragedy that these kids died, but it won’t be the last time. And the hill probably has damn all to do with it.
LikeLike
It surprises me a bit that so far all the responses have been pretty much in agreement.
LikeLike
While I too grieve for the parents we have become a country of over-reactors. What ever happened to reasoned contemplation?
LikeLike
Yes…and common sense?
LikeLike
A very interesting post, as usual Linda! A tragedy, an awful thing but I agree with you, it wasn’t the fault of the hill! There is an old saying, probably from the east, something to do with the fact that we can’t, even if we would wish it, carpet the whole earth…. but we can wear slippers.
LikeLike
Oh my, I’ve never heard that one. I like it! Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
Linda, your point is well made and well written. I agree with all of it. As a parent of growing boys, this is a good reminder that danger zones exist all the time. The job of me as a parent is to teach, watch, listen, and discipline as necessary. It really is – as easy as that.
LikeLike
Well, maybe not all that easy…parenting is the toughest job anyone will ever have. Hopefully also the most rewarding.
LikeLike
That’s my point – it could be easy, you just have to work at it. The working part is hard – but the common sense strategy is easy.
LikeLike
We just can’t protect ourselves from everything. We want to level – ban – pass laws against. The truth is, the tree didn’t cause the accident, and leveling it won’t stop another tragedy. I wish it was that simple but sadly, it isn’t. I too grieve for the families. This must have been devastating.
LikeLike
I agree with all you say Renee. I’m surprised no one has thrown tomatoes yet. I’ve probably just jinxed myself.
LikeLike
Nobody with any common sense would throw tomatoes Linda. There is another old saying that could be modified to apply here as well, “Guns don’t kill people…people kill people.” In this case: Tree’s don’t kill people, reckless abandonment of common sense and caution causes people to kill themselves. Tragic, yes – my heart and prayers go out to the family of each…but for the grace of the creator, it could have been any one of us or ours.
LikeLike
Thanks, Laurie.
LikeLike
This is the very attitude that has created volumes and tonnes of tomes called “manuals” – all put together to protect us from ourselves. Why do we go to such lengths thinking we protect our youth from consequences? No, teach responsibility, not how to shave off a hill!
Shaving off a hill is merely taking inappropriate action for the sake of doing something…
The kids already have the message.
LikeLike
So true, Amy.
LikeLike
No tomatoes from this direction. Can you give us an update later, as this proceeds along.
LikeLike
That’s a good idea. I’ll try…if there IS a follow up. So often in this community, stuff like this flames, then dies from lack of oxygen. I’ll try to remember to dig it up again in a few weeks, see what they end up doing.
LikeLike
I just read the article and have to sigh. I don’t know…does a simple speed bump spring to your mind? Isn’t that what speed bumps are designed for? Doesn’t it sound like the county commissioner’s are suggesting leveling the hill, among other things, prompted by guilt because they failed to take any action to address any of the warnings they received over the last nine years? Once again, reactionary instead of pro-active.
Interesting that the boy who was driving the truck lost his older brother in a car accident not too long ago. What was going inside him, I wonder? Grief? Anger? Competition? Despair? No bearing at all? The movie Ordinary People springs to mind. It’s all incredibly tragic in any case. Human beings are such a case study, y’know?
LikeLike
Good point about the commissioner’s possibly feeling remorse that they so stubbornly failed to put in a stop sign, or some other far cheaper alternative than “land management.”
Yes, we are a case study. Even with a stop sign in place, there’s no garuarantee that this boys/these boys wouldn’t have had their tragic accident in some other location…or….even at that intersection, since we know that rural intersections in this area are frequently the site of awful traffic accidents.
LikeLike
Of course you’re right, Linda, but it must have been hard to write this post. Our tendency is to want to fix everything, and make the world safe. The sad truth is that the more hills we flatten and the more helmet laws we pass, the harder some kids will work to find danger. My son got his license less than a year ago. I’m going to make him read this. Thank you.
LikeLike
Thanks, Charles. Hopefully your son shares your reasoned approach to life. I suspect you never lacked for fun during your young adulthood. But fun doesn’t have to include the just plain stupid element.
LikeLike
Not to sound callous – I do have a little boy and he is showing tendencies of boyish (i.e. reckless, thrill-seeking) behaviour already. I couldn’t even begin to imagine to lose him for whatever reason. So I do feel for the families of those two boys as well.
Having said that, what springs to my (granted, weird) mind is that this whole ‘speed so you can catch air’ affair sounds like a solid candidate for the 2012 Darwin Awards http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/
And I absolutely have to agree with all the other comments, better (try to) teach the kids responsible and sensible behaviour than that their actions have no consequences, however stupid these actions may be. Levelling a hill – what an idiotic way of saying “It wasn’t your fault, boys, someone or something else is to blame”!
LikeLike
Ah, the Darwin awards. Those have been off my radar lately. My former husband was a huge fan and he kept me in the swing. Thanks for the reminder.
And good luck with that rambunctious boy of yours. No one said that parenting is for the meek.
LikeLike
Keeps it interesting though. Who doesn’t like a challenge 😉
LikeLike
Well done, Linda. And I agree with it all. I’m also more than impressed with your readers’ comments.
LikeLike
Thanks, Bob,
LikeLike
Four 18yo boys died last week in an horrific car crash in Nova Scotia. Three of them were ejected from the vehicle. Police believe “speed was a factor”. Needless deaths. Stupid and sad. What an awful price to pay for being young and reckless.
LikeLike
Yes. As if life weren’t precarious enough.
LikeLike