Bad MG Midget accident

http://wbztv.com/local/wrong.way.crash.2.1392434.html

Sorry to bring bad news. I hope this is no one from here. I saw it on another forum. Note the picture in the article.

A Boston man who police said was driving drunk the wrong way on the Mass Pike in the Back Bay has been charged in connection with the death of a man following a collision that left another injured early this morning.

A Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Philip Daniels, 33, was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes and hit a 1978 MG sports car head-on, state police said. The passenger in the MG was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver was taken to Mass General Hospital with serious injuries.

The crash happened just before 2 a.m. in the eastbound lanes outside the Prudential tunnel.

thats to sad . when do the penalties get strong enough ??

The drunken perpetrator is definitely at fault and needs to be put away for a long time. But I wonder about the condition of the victims prior to the crash. A vintage MG out on the Mass Turnpike at 2:00 a.m. on a cold winter night? ... maybe in the 1970s, but that’s not rational behavior these days. I suspect there was some alcohol involved there too.

good point

Really? that seems like something that one of us would do in the process of bringing home a project car or going to an event or something.

Tragic.

maybe you but i'm not doing anyting related to a car at 2am . Unless i'm at the GRM experience or watching Le mans on the tube.

I don't drink. I am some times out in the small hours driving the se7en. It is a great car for checking out meteor showers and other astronomical events. Much less attention at night, but definitely riskier between the drunks and the deer.

m

I agree there’s nothing irrational about a late night summer cruise in a vintage sports car on a quiet country road to check out the meteor showers or maybe even test a new engine for a magazine deadline. But these unfortunate victims most likely weren’t doing either. It was 2:00 a.m. on a cold winter night and the location was the freakin’ Mass Turnpike in downtown Boston! Whatever the case, alcohol or simply irrational thinking, the evening turned out to be very unfortunate for them. There’s no question that the guilty party is the drunken SUV driver going the wrong way.

Heres one: just got your project car running and you and your buddy want to take a quick victory lap after a night of hard work, then a drunk hits you.

First of all, how hard would we have to look to find a thread on here that urges people to DRIVE their neat old car, rather than hide it in the garage? We've had some weather up her, so I'm surprised he went out with salt on the roads, but other than that, why not?

Second, if the poor victims had been in a Hummer or F250 or something solid like those, with good belts and air bags, the result might have been different, but from the description of the accident I've heard, the result would have been pretty much the same in many smaller brand new cars. So are folks crazy to go out in those too?

IIRC, a later report said he wasn't just out for a joy ride, he was heading home from visiting friends.

Stu

I have a solution ad it is not to park your sports car in the winter. I drove my crazy Ferrari Mondial year round in Northern Virginia in sun, rain and snow.

For your first drunk driving offense you have your license suspended for 1 year and do mandatory jail time of some kind. Also make it a felony conviction. For a second offense your license is revoked and have to turn in the plates for any vehicles you own and do a minimum of 30 days in jail. After a period where you go to rehab or whatever, you can then petition to have it back, maybe after say 2-3 years. This is only if you do not cause an injury accident. If someone is killed, how about manslaughter as a charge?

If driving drunk is bad then treat it as something serious and not as a mistameanor.

This hits pretty close to home as my wife and were hit by a drunk in my dad's GT6 a few years ago. Totaled the car, and put both of us in the hospital, my wife with a broken back. I think we would all do well to remember that these cars we drive will almost always be on the loosing end of a collision. Like my dad told me when I was a brand new driver, "it's not you I'm worried about, it's all other crazies on the road".

Be safe out there.

There is no solution to the "drunk driving problem" Penalties don't matter once the alcohol has done its job of releasing inhibitions. Prohibition didn't work. The only solution is defensive driving. Don't drive buzzed yourself so you are incapable of proper response to a hazard. Don't assume the green light you have will magically stop all cars going across you. Don't assume what looks like oncoming headlights couldn't possibly actually be.

I spent about 7 years driving drunk almost daily and thank God I never hurt anyone. Now I've been sober 25 years. I know both sides of the problem.

Andy Reid wrote: I have a solution ad it is not to park your sports car in the winter. I drove my crazy Ferrari Mondial year round in Northern Virginia in sun, rain and snow. For your first drunk driving offense you have your license suspended for 1 year and do mandatory jail time of some kind. Also make it a felony conviction. For a second offense your license is revoked and have to turn in the plates for any vehicles you own and do a minimum of 30 days in jail. After a period where you go to rehab or whatever, you can then petition to have it back, maybe after say 2-3 years. This is only if you do not cause an injury accident. If someone is killed, how about manslaughter as a charge? If driving drunk is bad then treat it as something serious and not as a mistameanor.

Sadly, that wouldn't work for some people. My brother-in-law is a State Trooper here in Michigan and he has pulled over and arrested many drivers multiple times for drunk driving and one guy 12 times!! This particular driver has never caused or been in an accident but has been caught driving drunk, been arrested, gone to court and done some mandatory jail time for his offenses. Each time he loses his license for additional years. In fact he's in his forties and can't get his license back until 2070 or something crazy like that so he will be long dead before he's eligible. Each time he gets out, gets a car, gets drunk and drives........without a license of course. Alcoholism is a disease, you just can't scare or threaten some people into being responsible.

I really don't care that he's not scared or threatened into responsibility. Only he can fix himself. In the meantime though, the jail sentences are not long enough apparently. As a responsible parent and husband, I want him OFF the road for a long time for the sake of my wife and kids, and others.

As Andy implied, we're just haven't treated this as serious yet.

DUI is not treated like a misdemeanor anywhere. Penalties don't matter except for time actually spent incarcerated. THREAT of incarceration means nothing once the alcohol has made the drinker feel invincible. How many times do you think you can drive under the influence before you cause a wreck of happen to get caught. Hundreds.

The only thing that I can see that MIGHT work would add a grand or more to the price of cars. That is to add a blood alcohol checking device to the starter like some states are requireing for convicted DUI people. Just put it on every car. Blow in the tube if it detects alcohol over legal limit the car won't start. In my opinion it is overkill and won't ever be put in place but if you as a concerned parent that feels some law will stop the problem this is the one to push for.

The only thing that will stop a drunk from starting his car is complete inability to start the car, not threat of jail IF he gets caught, in his mind he'll never get caught. How long do you want to repeat threats that don't work ?

Steve

Back in college in the mid '80's I had a head-on wreck with a Buick Electra 225 in my '72 Midget. I still have a few metal pieces in my left leg to remember it by. A 16yo girl made a left hand turn right into my lane with me doing about 50mph.

Long story short, she had about $200 worth of damage, my entire front end from the windshield forward was now in the seating compartment. Took over an hour to get me out and I spent a year recovering. Don't remember much about hurting the night of the crash, but the next day was horrible.

A week or so after the crash, the NTSB called and wanted to take my car for "inspection", whatever that meant. At the time, at least from what they told me, it was considered one of the most dangerous car on the road. Never heard anymore about it, but they worked something out with the insurance company and took the car.

Anyway, I loved that car!

Someone in my MG club had his MG-TD rear ended by a full sized pickup at a stop light. He drove the TD away, the truck had to be towed!

Dave

DneprDave wrote: Someone in my MG club had his MG-TD rear ended by a full sized pickup at a stop light. He drove the TD away, the truck had to be towed! Dave

Amazing but I've got one that tops that. I ride a train to work. Not a trolly or light rail but a full size diesal train going 79MPH. Some gang bangers left a TV set on the tracks which we hit at full speed. The frame of the television bouncing up and down under the train cut a brake line disabling the train. A 200 ton train stopped cold by a TV set.

Gary wrote: The drunken perpetrator is definitely at fault and needs to be put away for a long time. But I wonder about the condition of the victims prior to the crash. A vintage MG out on the Mass Turnpike at 2:00 a.m. on a cold winter night? ... maybe in the 1970s, but that’s not rational behavior these days. I suspect there was some alcohol involved there too.

Geez, talk about jumping to conclusions! You're as bad as the police officers who pull you over and lead of by asking "HOW MUCH have you had to drink tonight" instead of "Have you had ANYTHING to drink?"