Crash on I-25 kills 11-year-old
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published June 16, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
An 11-year-old Thornton girl died Saturday after she was tossed from a vehicle involved in a two-car collision on Interstate 25 in Weld County near Dacono, the Colorado State Patrol reported Sunday.
A 2003 Subaru Outback was traveling north at 6:05 p.m. when it swerved and hit an object in the road, then clipped a 2007 Ford Expedition in the next lane, troopers said. The Expedition spun and rolled once. The driver and all but one of five passengers were wearing seat belts, the State Patrol said.
The driver of the Expedition, Lee Madrid, 40, of Thornton, said the driver of the Subaru was trying to avoid what looked like a car bumper on the highway.
"He swerved to avoid an object. I tried to get away from him. He hit me before I had a chance to do anything," said Madrid, the stepfather of Celina Lucero, the 11-year-old who was killed.
Although the State Patrol reported Lucero was not wearing a seat belt, Madrid said, "we don't know that for sure. She was cell-phone and text-messaging obsessed, like a lot of kids her age."
State Patrol spokesman Gilbert Mares said the object was a rear bumper skin, possibly from a Honda Prelude. A witness reported seeing a car that looked like it had been sanded "down to the metal" shed the skin.
Anyone with information on this vehicle is asked to contact the State Patrol at 303-239-4583.
Madrid and passenger Elizabeth Madrid, 38, were taken to a Lafayette hospital with minor injuries. Passenger Lisa Campos, 38, was taken to a Longmont hospital with moderate injuries. Other passengers were not hurt.
The driver of the Subaru, Matthew Parsons, 22, and passenger Louise Parsons, 23, both of Laramie, were not injured.
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June 16, 2008
6:48 a.m.
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happymike44 writes:
Why was that child not wearing a safety belt while riding in the car.
I am sorry for your loss but this tragedy could have been avoided by simply wearing a seatbelt.
May this serve as a reminder to all parents that this may never happen in their family.
All it takes is one idiot and a pos car and someone is dead because of it.
No matter what make everyone wear a seatbelt short trip or not.
June 16, 2008
8:01 a.m.
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wygent writes:
Happy Mike - thanks for being a totally insensitive politically correct parrot. First of all, the article says the status of her seat belt use was inconclusive. Second, would you please show all of us how to make absolutely sure an 11 year old is wearing a seat belt every second if he or she does not want to. Thirdly there is no guarantee that wearing a seat belt would have saved her life. Contrary to what the nanny state do-gooders would have you believe, many people wearing seat belts die in accidents. Fourthly next time you have a tragedy in your life, I hope some stranger who knows nothing about the situation but what he reads in a preliminary newspaper article will take the time to verbally kick you around a little. Try to remember that humility is a virtue and you should never pass up an opportunity to just shut up.
wygent
June 16, 2008
8:02 a.m.
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jtriska writes:
I am reminded of the wreck on Santa Fe several years ago that killed a whole family. The woman was swerving to avoid an aluminum ladder that fell onto the road. My advice would be to just hit these objects instead of causing a melee on the road to try and avoid it. The worst that could happen is some undercarriage damage, but you'll live.
June 16, 2008
9:12 a.m.
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Heidi writes:
jtriska,
Obviously, that would be the thing to do. But sometimes the reflex is a hard thing to control.
I hope they find the person who actually caused this - the one with the missing bumper.
June 16, 2008
9:56 a.m.
Suggest removal
happymike44 writes:
Hey Wygent
Thank You for your input but I have had a couple of accidents not my fault.
One was a woman not paying attetion to the lights.
She ran the light and hit me head on I survived unscathed from this one.
I believe the reason was I was tightly buckled in my seat.
I was sideswiped in rush hour taffic and the car shoved into the concrete divider.
The car was a total loss but I walked away from it in one piece.
Wonder why You guessed it I was wearing my seatbelt.
So I put on my belt whenever I get in the car and feel safer. Knowing that because I wear it the odds are more in my favor to survive a serious accident then not wearing one.
Wonder have you ever read about what happens when you don't wear a belt.
Like a egg in a blender scrambled all over the place.
So kids make sure you always put on a safty belt.
Why because they save lives.
June 16, 2008
11:58 a.m.
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OneCreek writes:
Seat belts are certainly helpful, but are no guarantee of survivability. I read a story last year about a woman driving a Chevy Tahoe who lost control on the ice. She was partially ejected when the vehicle rolled, the belt keeping her in the vehicle. She was also crushed to death during the roll, the "partially ejected" part of her torso crushed by the Tahoe.
I myself was wearing a seat belt when I rolled my Yukon after unwisely trying to avoid a deer at 50 m.p.h. Either due to the force of the rollover or mechanical failure of the belt, I was completely ejected and the vehicle came to rest upon me. "Critical Condition" was an understatement.
No doubt, one should wear the safety belts in vehicles. But physics is physics, and parts do fail. Neither life nor engineering offers any guarantees.
June 16, 2008
3:47 p.m.
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jnjsmom writes:
I think it is tragic, but I heard from a close source of the family that none of the children were buckled in at all. My friend's daughter was supposed to be in that car that day, but plans changed and thank God she wasn't with them. She was told that the kids were all without seat belts. I figure that buckling up is the best thing to do, even if you were in an accident and were killed while wearing a seat belt, it is still the safest way to travel. The risk of you dying are slimmer without a doubt. It is tragic that a child lost her life for such senselessness. And you can make sure a child is buckled in by constantly checking if in doubt. My 6 year old thought she could get away with it, but I make sure and check through the mirrors and sometimes if I notice anything "fishy" I will stop the car and make sure she is buckled in. I'd rather be late to an appointment, or hear her gripe than to have her seriously injured or killed. She means too much to me.
June 16, 2008
4:38 p.m.
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happymike44 writes:
First of all a Chevy Tahoe has a higher center of gravity and will roll over faster then the average car will.
When you drive a high profile truck or suv.
The odds are that during rain and snow will cause it to lose control.
I am sorry for the woman in the tahoe but when it is raining slow down and if it is snowing slow way down.
If you are in a hurry leave earlier so you do not risk your life or even death.
So remember to wear your seatbelt the odds are more in your favor.
June 16, 2008
9:02 p.m.
Suggest removal
ldb writes:
One can make Expedition SUV roll by simply clipping it?
I guess I'm not too suprised.
Last year I saw one make a panic stop on I-25 near the Tech Center
losing control, it swerved back and forth across 4 lanes
before rolling twice. (on warm, dry pavement, no less.)
Somehow, by freak ocurrance, noone else was hit.
(Mostly everyone, myself included, pulled over to a stop
to simply watch...)
The marvel of it all, is that folks think SUV's are safe?
June 17, 2008
6:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
fermelgl writes:
I am shocked that Happy Mike would take this opportunity to get on a "Soap Box" to rant and rave about seat belts. The bottom line is that a beautiful 11 year old girl at the start of her life is no longer here. We can sit a debate all day long about whether the seat belt would have saved her or not. However, there is no debate that the idiot who left his bumper in the road is responsible for the start of this terrible tragedy. The fact that there were several other children in the car who were not in seat belts leads me to believe that it did not matter if she was wearing her seat belt or not.
With that said, the only thing that comes to my mind is the grief that her family and friends are feeling right now. Instead of being calloused and pointing fingers at this terrible time, we should all be joining together to mourn the awful loss of this young lady!