How tragic for these families. Unfortunately, no matter how many teens die, it will not prevent others from doing the same thing year after year. None of them think it will ever happen to them, and that they’re great drivers. I wonder how many young people thought that very thing before crashing and either killing themselves, or their best friends. I wonder how many young people will enter summer vacation, to only die in a crash.

It’s difficult to comprehend what a 15 & 16 year old are doing with a 21 year old
drunk driver at 3:30 in the morning coming home from a house party.
what does a normal parent do when a kid comes strolling in the house at that hour? It is beyond my comprehension.

agree with cinque. there is no good answer to what a 15 & 16 yr old are doing out that late. it is a bad formula, that sadly is repeated too many times. speed & alcohol involved. parents don’t ever let this happen to your kids. have them call you, call a cab. i work in health care and have seen these traumas on scene and in the er. the images don’t leave the first responders, as they won’t leave you. kids – you are not indestructible, and the grief of a parent burying their child is a pain so great, that it is a life sentence. be smart, be safe, stay alive. the driver should absolutely face the maximum penalty, and spare us your tears. no excuse.

As a young person, and someone who often did go to parties when I was under 21 (even sometimes as young as 16) I can say I really think it depends on the 16 year old. I never did get behind the wheel drunk or in a car with a drunk driver. I’d normally take a cab, since I was usually lucky enough to be able to afford them. My parents never had issues with me coming home late as long as it was done safely, and I was educated at a very young age about the dangers of alcohol. In my family my parents allowed me to drink wine with family at the age of 14. My parents also allowed me to drink beer at the age of 18 in the home and 21 plus for hard liquor (very similar rules to most of the world). I think if a parent tells their kids not to do something or not to go somewhere they may go anyways, at 16 years old it isn’t possible to track your kids 24-7 without keeping them on a leash. I highly doubt her parents knew that she was at a party and that she’d be coming home drunk with drunk driver (perhaps the kids were dishonest where they were going in the first place). This is an unfortunate accident, but the truth of the matter is that there is no realistic way to stop underage drinking or even house parties. I think as a city that prides them selves on being a “College town” and a city that attracts a good amount of young people we need to really start focusing on a way (other than overpriced cabs) to get these kids home safely if they do go out and drink. I really think the 3 cities (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville) really need to examine how we can get a 24-hour transit system to help prevent these drunk driving accidents. Unfortunately, taking cabs are way out of some people’s price range. I am not advocating that kids should be allowed to drink and go to parties that alcohol will be served at, I am simply trying to be realistic and say that kids are going to be kids, and they are going to be going out sneaking behind their parents back and drinking (my parents generation did it, the one before theirs did it, and so on so fourth, why would we expect it to be different now).. The least we can do as a society is recognize this reality and start looking at ways we can prevent these sad tragic accidents from happening. I fail to see why the MBTA can’t stay open 24-hours. I understand track maintenance is required to be ran, but why cant the train routes be replaced with buses to transport people around the city and between cities until the trains can be started again (This is a college town). I do understand that the overhead costs are higher at night (and I am sure there are lots of people who need jobs and don’t mind working at night. I think people would still ride the train if the night fare was a bit higher to account for the overhead cost it’d still provide an attractive alternative to taking a cab for the young people of the city.

I highly doubt the kids knew what they were doing when getting in the car with the drunk driver, and a scenario that I think is all to common plays out in my head of what may have happened that led to them to get take the ride.

It’s possible the kids snuck behind their parent’s back and went to this party and were trying to get home before morning so the parents wouldn’t notice, perhaps they couldn’t afford a cab (let’s face it, Boston cabs are WAAAY to expensive for some, I avoid them at all costs when I can), and therefore the drunk kids were offered a ride by someone (I presume someone they trusted) who said they were sober enough to drive them home (shame on the driver) and so the passengers probably felt it was ok to take the risk. Perhaps if there were buses open then the kids would have all just decided to take a bus instead of taking the risk of getting driven (obviously not a guarantee they’d take the bus, but at least there would be a reasonable alternative for them to take therefore giving tan option to get home safely). For them they were looking at a $30 cab ride perhaps more since they may have had multiple stops, and that’s a lot of money to part with for some people, and in their drunk stupor they weighed out the risk of getting a ride versus the cab. (I can see this decision being easily made when drunk and tired). Perhaps a more affordable option like a public transit system would somehow weigh in on their choice and perhaps they would have taking that instead. Perhaps with public transportation perhaps even the driver may not have driven to the party in the first place.

This is simply a scenario, not necessarily what happened in this case. However, it is something I see all to often happen as someone who does attend alot of college parties and house parties in the area (some even have underage drinkers at times). One of the biggest complaints I hear from mostly every single person is “Man, I sure wish the trains ran 24-hours then I’d be able to get home”.

I am only weighing in on this story because I was one of the 9-1-1 callers. In fact I was just on my way home from my cousin’s house after picking him up at his DJing gig at a local bar and dropping him off at home with his gear in somerville (since trains dont run 24-hours a day and he was flat broke for a cab). I was on my way over the mcgrath highway bridge when I saw the chevy smashed into the side of the bridge, it looked like his front tire had been completely ripped from the car. It must have just happened within a minute of me getting there. as the driver had just gotten out of his car and I saw two people in the back seat sobbing and the back doors were open (it was a very gory scene), one girl attempting to find out where they were to direct help, and one kid sobbing (he looked to be bleeding bad, but it may have been another passengers blood). I offered assistance (I’m a certified first responder and may have been able to help the shocked passengers who were all in a mental state of shock as well as physical) but was refused assistance and was not allowed to approach the vehicle by the driver (legally I am not a paramedic and therefore risk lawsuit if I intervene without permission, consent is only implied if I see someone unconscious, but was unable to see all the passengers in the car from where I was) . I decided to drive up the road and come back around on the bridge to stop behind the car and wait for medics to arrive and assist if I’d be allowed to. However, while I was driving I called 9-1-1 (it seemed they already had called because the dispatch said help was already on the way to mcgrath highway). By the time I had made my u-turn by leechmere and went back to the other side of the bridge cops, paramedics, and fire were on site. At this point I was useless. I didn’t see the actual accident take place, but I can tell you when I saw the scene I knew from the start that it was a cut and dry drunk driver. The road was completely empty and there was no reason i could see for the driver to loose control unless he was drunk and/or speeding. My deepest condolences to the families of everyone involved.

PLEASE BOSTON/CAMBRIDGE/SOMERVILLE CAN WE FIGURE OUT THIS 24-HOUR TRANSIT THING. WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON OUR YOUNG POPULATION AND OUR STATUS AS A COLLEGE TOWN YET WE CAN’T EVEN PROTECT THEM FROM THE DRUNK DRIVERS ON THE ROAD. HOW MANY MORE MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN NEED TO GO TO THE CITY MORGUE IN BODY BAGS BEFORE WE WISE UP AND PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES TO GETTING HOME.

THIS IS SO SAD, GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES
REST IN PEACE BABIES
VISIT MY BLOG
http://ethicalfutures.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/the-spaghetti-smackdown-only-animals-eat-on-the-train/

Karen S,

You are a completely moron,maximum penalty this kid was already home..These girls asked him for a ride,he was at a party that was right around the corner from his house…..I personally know Kenny and if you think the death penalty is appropriate for this crime you’re a P.O.S…Kenny is a good kid who grew up right around the corner from me,he will never survive in Jail he is soft spoken and extremely nice…..

It boils down to this he made a bad choice helping someone out,the girls were in his car because they were some of his younger friends girlfriends……

How many times have you made stupid choices and nothing has happened,how many times have you been in a situation and thought this could end badly?? He is a good kid who a stupid choice…..He was enrolled in college and was an aspiring engineer….Not some punk street kid….

Kenny knew he had to much and told them before they left,he made a bad choice but so did everyone in that car….They with the help of others convinced him to go..Everyone in that car including the deceased have culpability for those two deaths not just the driver….