LightningTuner:

So far, all we know about the L driver is that he is from Lawrenceville Ga and 39 years old.....the truck looks like an 01/02
Silver L...that road (according to one of our members) is right near 316...this is a DEATH HIGHWAY that runs from Atlanta to Athens Ga....everytime I'm on 316 I get nervous...It's a very poorly planned road and too many drivers simply do not care about nor respect their fellow human beings.

 

I think some people have already formed conclusions in an accident we know nothing about. All we really know is that the Lightning crossed the center line and struck the van nearly head-on, killing the van driver and seriously injuring the L driver. Looking at the teeny-tiny picture, it looks like the L took a front off-set impact, which if memory serves is the impact the F-150 performs worst at.

We don't know that he was racing. We don't know if he was drunk. We don't know a lot of things here. So please, PLEASE, try to keep the speculation-as-facts outta this.

 

We do know that he was driving like an idiot and he was speeding, and that he crossed the center line hitting the minivan head on killing the driver.
I did judge him early before we had much of the story, but from what I have read it happened pretty much as I thought.
It is a damn shame.

Bill

 

Hey guys, does it really matter if the person involved was on this site or not???? lets pray for whoever it is that was involved.

Hopefully whoever was involved is ok from this accident. Its ashame anyone should have that happen to them, lightning brother or not.

 

Here's a pic from another angle........................ I've been searching and could not find any more details...............

Dan

 

Very well said. I was about to say the same thing. It sucks when ANYONE dies or gets hurt. It is a shame. -Mat-

 

And how about no more 140 mph on the freeway post.....please take it to the track.


Jerry

 

I second that.

 

You are right, it is a shame. But both news links I have seen in this thread are SHORT. They give few details. Just because someone crossed the center line and killed someone does not necessarily mean they were "driving like an idiot". They could have had a seizure, could a heart attack, any number of other reasons.

Its interesting that in the gazillion posts lamenting Tundra and Sonic03's loss, I don't remember reading anything like this.

 

Today at 6pm the major news will be on for Atlanta
[channel 2.4.5 and 11]...maybe there will be some new information...does anyone here ever remember a 39 year old guy
from Lawrenceville with a 2001 etc silver L ever posting?

Information so far is very spotty...no matter what the "cause"
of the accident, it is tragic...one death affects so very many people
and it's permanent...this is a reminder to us all about whats truly
important in life...for the most part I think that the majority of L owners here are sincerely affected by situations like this...after all
this is a Lightning interest group, but beyond that we a community of beings that just happen to "like" Lightnings and in times of loss (it's a universal thing) we try to stick more together...
If the accident did not involve a Lightning this thread would probably not be happening...so while we are all participating in this drama of living it's a measure of our character and spirit how we speak and act to others.

 

Bill I am quite surprised at your response as well. I have not seen any indication to the affect that the Lightning driver was driving like an idiot and speeding. All that has been released is that "someone saw" the Lightning cross the centerline, and that it was a head on accident at high speed. A high speed accident doesn't always mean one vehicle was going excessively faster than the other. A head on collision with two vehicles traveling at 60mph each, has a 120mph impact force. It could have been the minivan drivers fault for all we know. I would feel horrible if someone who knew the driver of the Lightning was reading this site and saw that post.

 

98Cobra,

I don't want to argue with you on this, someone died and now one of our Lightning brothers is going to have that to live with that because of how he was controlling his truck or lack there of.

I may have gone overboard with what I wrote but last night when I read what was available and saw the picture I knew right away it was the person driving the minivan that was killed.
The first thing that came to my mind was (what if that was my wife and child in the minivan?) It was not a good feeling at all.

I have changed quite a bit since my son was born, it has change my priorities and how I do a lot of things now.
I use to drive like an idiot on the street, take street videos and have them taken of me. You will see I have not taken or posted any (street videos) since my son was born.
I'm not trying to preach to you, Would I still street race? if the circumstances were right, sure I would , or if I had a weak moment I could still get caught up in one. Is it the right thing to do? Definitely Not, but we are all human and don't always make the right choices.

I feel really bad for the guy driving the Lightning, it is going to be a really tough time for him no matter what the outcome.

This was posted;

"Investigators aid the driver of a Ford F-150 traveling east on
Mitchell Road crossed over the centerline and struck the minivan
head-on. The driver of the van died at the scene. The driver of
the truck was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center with non-life
threatening injuries.

Witnesses said the driver of the truck was driving erratically
before the collision, according to Gwinnett County officials.

So by me saying he was driving like an idiot, I guess I should have just said he was driving erratic.

In Tundra and Sonics case they were the ones that died along with one of their friends. Not the person they hit. And if I knew it was someone on here I might feel different because they are family to me too.
Like I said, this really hit me because it was a white minivan like the one my wife drives.
You are going to hate this next statement even more so make sure you are sitting down, Lightning brother or not, if that was my wife and son, and it was because he was driving beyond his abilities or limits of the truck I would have a really hard time letting him make it out of the hospital alive.
I am not trying to sound like an internet tough guy, that is just how I feel.
I will try not to reply to this thread again as I do not want to take away anymore from what this thread needs, and that is us sticking together for the families that are involved.
I just wanted for you to understand why I have wrote what I have.
I am sure a lot of people won't understand and they may disagree with me, and that is fine, that is all of your right.

Sorry if I made things worse, I was just trying to explain my words.

Bill

 

I understand how Bill feels and I also understand how others feel.

Alot of the NEW AGE performance vehicles are causing scenes like this. Even a Stock Lightning or Cobra is a VERY powerful machine.

Man VS Machine and the Machine wins EVERY time.

I wouldnt be able to live with myself if I knew I had killed someone being foolish.

The other side to that is even if the Lightning was being stupid and lost it, maybe there is a reason for it? There is a reason for EVERYTHING yet we as humans will never know why. Think about a death of a unborn child, why does that happen? Only God knows why.... Maybe one day it will become clear.

I use to street race all the time until I almost lost my life playing, many things can change how you react. Like Bill said, im human and at times I still may do stupid things based upons desires.







I hope the people that are alive after this wreck are doing well whatever the true cause may be.

Let this be ANOTHER example of how short life is, we all seem to forget whats important at times....

 

Sal:

The impact force of two vehicles of equal mass hitting each other head-on, each rolling at 60 MPH, is 60 MPH! The equivalent of hitting a brick wall at 60 MPH.

I realize that it SEEMS like it would be 120 MPH, but you'll find that very little hard science actually agrees with layman's intuition. Kind of like putting the tailgate down for aerodynamics (actually hurts).

If you do an energy balance around the crash (kinetic energy of one-half-m-v-squared) for each vehicle, you'll see that there is NO WAAAAY that 120 MPH worth of energy is anywhere near the impact.

There is a "closing speed" of 120 MPH between the vehicles, but that's where any relevance to 120 MPH ends.

Engineering degrees rule.

 

Serious question: Are you saying that the damage done to both vehicles would be similar if one was going 0 mph and the other 60 mph?

I don't have an Engineering degree, but that sounds like what you said, and it doesn't seem right.

Not trying to argue with you, just hoping you can dumb it down for me....