I am so angry I could scream.  A man died tonight who did not need to, and should not have.  I know nothing else about him.  This niece has been a complete idiot for the last two years.  She is not malicious, just stupid beyond belief.  About two years ago she "borrowed" a new truck belonging to her father's co-worker.  He was in the habit of parking it at their house and carpooling with our brother-in-law to work.  He always left the keys on the kitchen counter in case it needed to be moved.  She decided (at 15--no driver's license) to go joyriding to visit her loser friends, and try to impress them.  Of course, she wrecked the new truck.  When her parents gave her the first punishment of her life--a grounding--she responded by "attempting suicide."  Not a real attempt, just took a bottle of Tylenol, then called her loser boyfriend and told him.  She sustained some amount of liver damage from that little escapade.  She was then sent to "military school" where she managed to get something like a GED, then they talked her into entering the Army.  She decided the Marines would be "cooler."  She got in, then after two weeks decided she was homesick, and thinking of suicide.  They sent her to a shrink, where she was asked if she had ever had thoughts of suicide before.  She revealed her past, which had conveniently been ommitted when asked prior to enlistment.  Two days later she was back home.  Three more auto accidents, the details of which I am not aware.  Now, mommie and daddy bought her yet another car.  This evening she lets her just-turned-15-y/o-friend drive her new car--head on into another vehicle, killing the male driver instantly.  The 15 y/o is uninjured, despite no seat belt, probably had an air bag, but I don't know.  My wife's niece has serious, but not life-threatening, internal injuries, mostly stemming from lack of seat belt usage.  Shattered pelvis, torn bladder, torn uterus, chunks of bone, presumed to be from lower spine, floating loose.  She has been flown by helicopter to Peoria, and is in surgery now.  Perhaps now my wife will understand why I refer to teenagers as S.F.K.'s--Stupid Effing Kids.  I guess I will henceforth be the "family a$$hole" as I will not be in the same building with this little murdering bitch again.  A man died as a direct result of her actions that she knew not to do.  Damn her to hell.  [pissed]

[b]UPDATE[/B]  Well, it gets better.  The deceased gentleman was a family man, age 34, with five children.  The youngest two are one y/o twins.  He owned two or three Domino's Pizza restaurants.  So sad . . . [V]

Sad. Let's just hope that her injuries prevent her from breeding another litter of SFK's. Sounds like something's wrong in that gene pool.

Not painful enough, as it appears she will recover, unlike the man who died instantly with no chance to say goodbye to whatever family he had.  I wonder if he had a three month old baby like my brother.  A new wife, like a friend of mine.  Numerous grandchildren like so many of my friends.  Now he is dead, and did not need to be.  [V]

I will forgive her when she gives back to the man what was taken by her actions.

sorry to hear the bad news, cheer up and hang in there bro. Think about BRC 03 :P

Yes, he is.  OLY-M4Gery, my sister-in-law is a complete idiot, her husband is a really nice guy, but totally dominated by the idiot wife.  She is a rabid Clinton supporter, and that about sums her up.  The apple didn't fall far from the tree.  Crookshanks, my wife's mother is full-blooded Mexican, and if you know anything about their culture, family is everything.  It is wonderful at Christmas and other holidays, but needless to say, my wife is close to all of her nieces and nephews.  There is a b-day to go celebrate nearly every week.  Apparently I am rubbing off on her, because when she called with an update, I made (for me) the obligatory deragatory remark about her niece, and she agreed!  I was testing the waters, and my wife passed the test.  She just called again to say she is coming home, as the surgery will last at least a couple more hours.  They have only done the bladder and uterus and now begin the shattered pelvis and exploratory to look for other damage.  She has a two hour drive, so I am concerned for her.  She is an excellent driver, but I am like a mother hen over her safety.  Ironically, when my mother-in-law found out we were dating she said, "you're getting my good one."  I thought that was odd at the time, but now know what she meant.  My wife is absolutely wonderful.  Not perfect, but a great wife.  Her four sisters each have, shall we say, quirks.  The quirk of this niece's mother is that she is a piss-poor parent.  Two daughters, and just too busy to be bothered with being a mother.  As the girl is a minor, they could easily lose everything, and they do have a rather nice home.  

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.  I appreciate the understanding.  It helps to rant.  I did not know the man, and probably will never know much, if anything, about him.  My job requires dealing with the aftermath of death with the family members, so I know exactly what his family is going through.  Death by cancer is one thing, death at the hand of an S.F.K. is quite another.  Again, thanks!

I don't know, but I do know they took her to the Bloomington hospital first, then she was flown to Peoria for surgery.  I presume it happened somewhere near Bloomington/Normal.  

MedCop, thanks, I'll be fine, just in a rage.  Going to bed soon, headed your way in the morning.  [:)]

Yes, I am leaving town in the morning for the weekend, but I may take a laptop with me and post, or will have my wife post updates to this thread.  Perhaps I can talk her through e-mailing you--she is not very computer savvy, but is learning.  Monday, at the latest, I will let you know something.  [b]Thanks to all[/b] for the concern.  

I don't know anything more than I've posted.  My wife sounded fine on the phone.  She is rather outraged--that may be a bit strong--but definitely not sympathetic toward the niece.  She described her sister as "hysterical."  I know absolutely nothing about the victim except it was a man, and he died instantly.  I have no clue about drinking or not.  I don't know the niece that well, as they live a ways from us (nearly an hour drive) and I have always just viewed her as a nutcase, along with her mother.  The father (no blood relation to my wife) is a good guy, and I helped roof his house a couple years ago.  He lets his idiot wife dominate the household and this is what happens . . . [pissed]

I am going with the group that thinks the parents are to blame for this kind of nonsense. Poor parenting skills at work.

I would say that this is the one.  The niece and her parents live in Lincoln, as well as the dead man.  34 y/o.  [V]

THANK YOU!!  I appreciate the kind words.  I was going to e-mail you, as I'd prefer to say this off-Board, but you list no e-mail.  Here goes:

I too have come to respect you greatly.  I seek out your posts.  Regarding the early difficulty between us, you have probably been here long enough now, and participated enough, to realize that this Board is regularly trolled and "attacked" by outsiders, so we are always leary of newcomers who fit a certain pattern or profile.  You seemed to fit it, but with time, have shown you are certainly "one of us."  I am thrilled by that as we always need and welcome new members.  My wife has a good attitude about this accident mess, with little, to no, sympathy for her niece.  She has the attitude that the "chickens have come home to roost" for her sister/niece.  It is just so sad that a 34 y/o man had to die needlessly.  Anyway, thanks for the kind words.  My wife is reading them and says "thank you" too.  [:)]