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Whisper

#byefelicia
I know the law is the law but I really think he will never forgive himself and thats enough punishment for a lifetime
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Hardman Family​
[...]
16-year-old boy who was behind the wheel of Wednesday's horrific car crash that killed his five family members while driving to Disney World has reportedly been charged.

Michael Reichardt was cited Friday with reckless operation of a vehicle, a misdemeanor, after apparently falling asleep while driving from Terrell, Texas, to Orlando, Fla.
[....]
Three children — ages 4, 7 and 15 — and two adults — identified as Michael and Trudi Hardman of Terrel — were killed after the vehicle ran off a Louisiana interstate
[...]
The driver and two other passengers were injured, one critically, one of the victim's relatives told
[...]
The family's tragedy came during what was supposed to be "their trip of a lifetime," the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal/Emergency Management in Texas posted on their Facebook page
[...]
They identified both adult fatalities as current and former teachers in Willis Point, Texas.
Michael Hardman most recently served as a second-grade teacher in the Terrell school district.
[...]
Willis Point Independent School District said Trudi Hardman was a kindergarten teacher at their primary school.

"These kids and parents were active in the school and in the Wills Point Baseball Association. This was a wonderful family and was loved by all the kids that these wonderful teachers touched,"
[...]
Eight people in all were in the 2005 Chevy Tahoe when it rolled over after crashing into a median only a little more than three hours after the family hit the road
[...]
Police said the teen driver over-corrected, ejecting six of the eight passengers in the vehicle — none of whom were wearing seatbelts, according to Col. Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police.
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[...]
Police believe the couple's son apparently fell asleep behind the wheel of the SUV during the drive from Terrell, Texas, to Orlando, Florida.
State police spokesman Michael Reichardt told the Associated Press that the teen driver was cited with careless operation, which is a misdemeanor.

The family was on the road for a little more than three hours when the crash happened about 10:46 p.m. Wednesday west of Calhoun
[...]
family's SUV, a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe, veered off a highway and rolled over, killing the couple and three of the kids -- 15-year-old Dakota Watson, and 7-year-old Adam Hardman; and 4-year-old Kaci Hardman.
[...]
Timothy Hardman said the driver and two passengers were injured, one critically.

"After entering the median, the driver overcorrected and the vehicle began to roll over. As the vehicle was rolling over, six of the eight occupants were ejected. Five passengers were pronounced dead at the scene by the Ouachita Parish Coroner’s Office,"
[...]
Timothy Hardman told the AP that going to Disney World was his brother's family's "dream trip."

Police don't believe the young driver was impaired, but a toxicology sample was taken. The stretch of I-20 where the deadly crash took place is flat and straight and the weather was clear, they said.

AGoFundMe pagehas been set up to help the family with expenses.
http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news...veling-to-disney-world/29860408#ixzz3Jk50Cay3

Trudis FB
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https://www.facebook.com/trudi.wagonerhardman?fref=browse_search
Michaels FB
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https://www.facebook.com/michael.hardman.161?pnref=lhc.rel
 
How sad. I too don't believe this boy should be charged. I believe losing his family members due to his falling asleep driving is punishment enough. He will blame himself the rest of his life. I really feel for this family and community.
 
i believe that it is pretty stupid to not buckle up (and not buckle up your own small children as well) when you let a 16 year old and probably inexperienced driver, drive you almost halfway across the country.
 
The fact that everyone in the car was unbuckled was not the driver's fault, it was his parent's fault, they should have made sure that everyone in the car was buckled before they started. Alot of this was preventable. My car doesn't start if anyone in my authority is not bukcled up, if you're grown and chose not to be buckled that is your stupidity, not mine.
 
Hell, the fact that he was driving at all was his parent's decision. I was unaware that I could be charged with something if I fell asleep at the wheel. I think on the whole, as a country, we're getting a bit too focused on criminal punishment. Crimes should be punished not mistakes.
 
Just to clarify, the young man has been cited, not charged. The wording of the article has since been corrected.

Not ideal, but careless operation of a vehicle is a misdemeanor, and Louisiana distinguishes it from reckless driving, which implies some intent or reckless disregard.

Why were so many of them not wearing seat belts? It was 10.30 pm, 3 hours into a drive to Disney World. My guess is that they planned to drive through the night, taking turns at the wheel. Big suv, parents and some of the kids were sleeping comfortably rather than having seat belts on.

I hate it when friends tell me they plan to drive through the night, and always try to talk them out of it. So not worth it.
 
The kid just got his license in September too. I would not let a new driver carry that many passengers at night, and no seatbelts just boggles my mind. They were both teachers, by all accounts great people, I just can't understand why they made such a bad decision.
 
The kid just got his license in September too. I would not let a new driver carry that many passengers at night, and no seatbelts just boggles my mind. They were both teachers, by all accounts great people, I just can't understand why they made such a bad decision.

Exactly. Who lets an inexperienced teen driver drive them 1,051 miles from home to anywhere, and at night? Even if they were to take turns, that's a hell of a road trip for someone who just got their drivers license. I feel horrible about his situation now, he'll probably need lifelong counseling. I hate to say it but IMHO the parents were at fault :( I hope at some point he is able to (mentally) recover from this.
 
read this in picayune before I picked up the mugshot pic [just for y'all]. It wasa tragedy and I blame unfortunately, the parents. He will be emotionally scarred for life and hope he has the rest of his family to really support him and get him serious real counseling. This will not go away for him. Will probably effect his driving as well as holidays and everything else for the rest of his life. No way in hell I'd let a kid that just got their license behind the wheel with me in the car at night like that on any type of road trip.
 
Two friends of mine from high school were driving from fl to nc with their dad when they were 16. They were identical twins. One was driving, the other in the passenger seat, and dad was sleeping in the back seat unbuckled. The driver over corrected and the SUV flipped. He was killed instantly, the other kid didn't have serious injuries, but the dad had very serious injuries and almost didn't make it. The kid that survived was severely traumatized. Nobody rode in my car without a seatbelt after that.
 
suvs are dangerous they have the steering of a tank then they freak out if you try to move the wheel too fast and they roll a real bad combo: I know I had to stay calm the other day when I was drivin in the snow as here we have ice under an the car wanted to slide and I had to force myself not to jerk the wheel as it were I got way too close and personal with a herd of huddled angus that were just sitting there watchin me come right at them through the barbed wire. My one thought is if I take one out am callin my neighbor to bring it home as I would get charged for it anyway
 
  • Children 4 to 8 years old and less than 4 ft 9 in tall must be properly secured in an approved belt-positioning booster seat system.

Thats from the Tennessee website. Both of the two youngest children should have been in car sears, but they didn't have enough room. So they stuffed seven people in a car that barely fit that many, forgoing the car seats altogether, and then let their just licensed son drive the first shift.

I'm not trying to be mean cause after all they are dead, but the parents failed hard here.
 
Thats from the Tennessee website. Both of the two youngest children should have been in car sears, but they didn't have enough room. So they stuffed seven people in a car that barely fit that many, forgoing the car seats altogether, and then let their just licensed son drive the first shift.

I'm not trying to be mean cause after all they are dead, but the parents failed hard here.
i don't think anyone here has been or has tried to be mean. i feel for this kid. but on the other hand, these two that thought that this was ok were responsible for educating other peoples children. (see, that was fairly mean, however, still the truth.)
 
The kid just got his license in September too. I would not let a new driver carry that many passengers at night, and no seatbelts just boggles my mind. They were both teachers, by all accounts great people, I just can't understand why they made such a bad decision.
My thoughts exactly!

I wouldn't even let him take a turn at the fucking wheel, let alone, take a shift driving!
 
My first thought is why was a 16 year old driving at night when there were two adults in the vehicle and why was no one wearing a seatbelt. This poor guy, I bet he will have a hell of a time driving again and to be responsible for your family's demise, lifetime punishment right there. Sad, preventable situation.
 
When I was 17 my mom, stepdad, my 6 day old baby and myself, traveled 21 hours -from BC to Alberta for a family reunion. I had my learners license, but had been driving heavy machines and logging/dump trucks since I was 12, and my mom had just gotten her drivers license, so we all took turns. When it came to my mom's turn I decided to sit shotgun and keep her awake.

It was about 3am as we came through Jasper national park, misty as all heck you couldn't see more than about 15 feet ahead of you. My mom was so focused on driving that she missed seeing a moose standing directly in our lane. We were doing 90kph when the mist cleared enough to see it. Both my stepdad and I screamed "MOOSE!!!" and my mom just looked sideways at me with the most confused look. The moment probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I reached over and grabbed the wheel, my mom still didn't realize what was happening and freaked the fuck out. She never even seen the moose until after we were by it and pulled over.

I spent about 10 minutes bawling and shaking uncontrollably on the side of the road thinking about how badly that could have ended. If she'd tapped the brakes, at that speed and with only one hand on the wheel, there's a good chance I wouldn't have been able to control it. If I didn't take the wheel..the odds are pretty good that none of us would be alive today.

My mom refuses to drive at night, even though it was 16 years ago, and I will never fully trust a new or panicky driver at night thanks to that. I have a 16 year old newly licensed driver. While I'd allow her to drive at night, I wouldn't allow her to drive without everyone being buckled up and me riding shotgun and awake in case something happened and she needed help.

This poor kid will relive this every day of his life and as much as I hate victim blaming, his parents really dropped the ball.
 
I hope his relatives, or whoever he lives with has the foresight to get him into therapy before this nightmare turns into a suicide...Same with his two brothers. :(
 
I know the law is the law but I really think he will never forgive himself and thats enough punishment for a lifetime
You're absolutely right. When I was in high school, a classmate of mine was involved in a car wreck where the other driver, an elderly woman, passed away. I don't recall the exact circumstances, but the accident was deemed to be 100% the fault of the lady. Still, my friend fell into a deep depression, started taking drinking or ecstasy everyday, and was eventually committed to a mental hospital after a failed suicide attempt. I hope the young man in this story deals with his guilt better, but I can't even begin to imagine the burden of having to carry something like this on your conscience.
 
When I was 17 my mom, stepdad, my 6 day old baby and myself, traveled 21 hours -from BC to Alberta for a family reunion. I had my learners license, but had been driving heavy machines and logging/dump trucks since I was 12, and my mom had just gotten her drivers license, so we all took turns. When it came to my mom's turn I decided to sit shotgun and keep her awake.

It was about 3am as we came through Jasper national park, misty as all heck you couldn't see more than about 15 feet ahead of you. My mom was so focused on driving that she missed seeing a moose standing directly in our lane. We were doing 90kph when the mist cleared enough to see it. Both my stepdad and I screamed "MOOSE!!!" and my mom just looked sideways at me with the most confused look. The moment probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I reached over and grabbed the wheel, my mom still didn't realize what was happening and freaked the fuck out. She never even seen the moose until after we were by it and pulled over.

I spent about 10 minutes bawling and shaking uncontrollably on the side of the road thinking about how badly that could have ended. If she'd tapped the brakes, at that speed and with only one hand on the wheel, there's a good chance I wouldn't have been able to control it. If I didn't take the wheel..the odds are pretty good that none of us would be alive today.

My mom refuses to drive at night, even though it was 16 years ago, and I will never fully trust a new or panicky driver at night thanks to that. I have a 16 year old newly licensed driver. While I'd allow her to drive at night, I wouldn't allow her to drive without everyone being buckled up and me riding shotgun and awake in case something happened and she needed help.

This poor kid will relive this every day of his life and as much as I hate victim blaming, his parents really dropped the ball.
my brother totaled his car last year in Calgary Alberta and the cops all told him 99% of the people that hit moose die
 
I'm happy to hear they dismissed the ticket against this boy. He has enough pain to deal with. It will be a long time before he gets behind the wheel of a car again. I hope the other family members survive their injuries. Have there been any updates on their conditions? I remember one was critically injured.
 
Heartfelt prayers went out to the Hardmans' three surviving sons. Their 16-year-old son was driving the car. State police believe he fell asleep at the wheel. When the vehicle flipped, six people were ejected. Michael, Trudi, 15-year-old Dakota, seven-year-old Adam, and four-year-old Kaci were all killed.

The driver was cited for reckless operation of a vehicle, which is a misdemeanor, but the Monroe, La. district attorney will dismiss the ticket.

Another son was released from the hospital. The third is still in the hospital with a head injury. During services, Kennimer received a text from someone close to the family who said the hospitalized boy was no longer in ICU. He announced it to the congregation, who applauded.
http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/loca...illed-disney-world-accident-hardman/19449755/
 
sorry (blushes) i do not have the best keyboard/computer. it sucks when i am sober, sucks even more when i am fucked up.
 

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