3 killed in crash on River Road

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

[Anonymous]

Why do parents buy these sorts off cars for young people? It doesn't make sense.

I knew a kid who's parents bought him a Porsche for his 18th birthday. Within 2 months he lost control and crashed it killing the passenger and putting himself in a coma for 6 months. After he came out of the coma, his dad gave him a Corvette. Before he could be tried for killing his friend, he rolled the Vette and killed himself.

I am not against fast cars. Or young people driving them. But do so in a controlled situation with safety gear, etc. Enroll them in the SCCA or NASA. The street is not the time or the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people so concerned with what happened and how? What does assigning blame even do now -- 3 people paid with their life and this poor teen girl is now an orphan. If her dad misjudged -- well he and his family paid the ultimate price. If the BMW driver was at fault -- well that still doesn't bring this family back together again.

Because either way a lesson need to be learned and hopefully we can all don our best not to let this happen again.

The "best" (though nothing is guaranteed) way for it not to happen again is to not make left turns on open intersections like that -- drive to the next light w/ the left turn signal, wait for it to give you a green arrow, then make a u turn and come back to wherever you wanted to go. What are the chances this happens given peoples' obsession with -- OMG I'm SOOOO busy, you have NOOO idea how busy we are, we are already SOOO late -- attitude!?

I say just feel sad for this family bc this is the ultimate tragedy and move on w/o blaming either side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do parents buy these sorts off cars for young people? It doesn't make sense.

I knew a kid who's parents bought him a Porsche for his 18th birthday. Within 2 months he lost control and crashed it killing the passenger and putting himself in a coma for 6 months. After he came out of the coma, his dad gave him a Corvette. Before he could be tried for killing his friend, he rolled the Vette and killed himself.

I am not against fast cars. Or young people driving them. But do so in a controlled situation with safety gear, etc. Enroll them in the SCCA or NASA. The street is not the time or the place.

Why does the type of car matter? Sounds like it was a combo of making a left and some misjudgment on the part of the car making the left in combo with some speeding by the BMW. Wouldn't the result have been the same had the hit been by a Toyota or even worse by an SUV? Both of those kinds of cars also get to 40 mph or 50 or70 or whatever the speed was at which he hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

No 20 year old kid - and especially one with a bad driving record - should be out driving a fast BMW. Even if he was going 20 mph he's not going to win in the public's opinion as it looks like he was lavishly spoiled and acting like an idiot driving a pricey fast car in an irresponsible manner.
If his parents downgraded him to an old Subaru Outback until he could be more responsible maybe he'd be more of a sympathetic figure. But a reckless 20 year old in a bmw? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

You can look up the dad's driving record too. He doesn't has a history of negligent driving and speeding, so there's nothing to bring up.

Personally, I feel no sympathy for the BMW driver, even if he had died. He's a driving menace with access to fast cars that he obviously didn't buy himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

No 20 year old kid - and especially one with a bad driving record - should be out driving a fast BMW. Even if he was going 20 mph he's not going to win in the public's opinion as it looks like he was lavishly spoiled and acting like an idiot driving a pricey fast car in an irresponsible manner.
If his parents downgraded him to an old Subaru Outback until he could be more responsible maybe he'd be more of a sympathetic figure. But a reckless 20 year old in a bmw? Nope.

And pretty much all 20 year old males are reckless. And fearless. And invincible. It's the nature of the beast. It's the parents that are supposed to have the maturity and the brain cells.

Assuming that the parents gave him the car but who knows - I've seen some kids inherit money and that's what they buy. If I had $$ to pass down I wouldn't let anyone have it until they're 30...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

No 20 year old kid - and especially one with a bad driving record - should be out driving a fast BMW. Even if he was going 20 mph he's not going to win in the public's opinion as it looks like he was lavishly spoiled and acting like an idiot driving a pricey fast car in an irresponsible manner.
If his parents downgraded him to an old Subaru Outback until he could be more responsible maybe he'd be more of a sympathetic figure. But a reckless 20 year old in a bmw? Nope.

But why? He could have caused the same damage at the same speed with an Outback. So why does it matter that he's rich (or his parents are) and caused the damage with a BMW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Europe is mandating collision avoidance systems in the next 4 years. There are people in this country who say that they don't want the government telling them when to put their brakes on! I am all for madatory collision avoidance sysems in cars.

In this case it might not have made a difference. Seems like a big enough error there probably wasn't enough stopping distance. Might have helped some but maybe not.
But those would save many lives in many cases. Maybe pedestrian lives too.

[jsteele]

I've asked before and I'll ask one more time. Let's let the investigators do the investigation. A lot of you are crossing over to character assassination based on nothing more than the model of car. I drive a BMW that is very similar to the one in this crash, so maybe I am a bit sensitive. But, I don't think it is right or fair to jump to conclusions when so little is known at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Email from principal this morning.

Now that information has been released, please see below. Another email will be coming later this morning. We must join together as a community to support our students, family, and school staff.

Detectives with the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit are investigating a collision that occurred Saturday night that involves three fatalities.

On Saturday, February 28 at approximately 6:56 p.m., 2nd District officers and Fire and Rescue personnel responded to River Road and Pyle Road for a report of a serious collision. Investigation determined that a blue, 2016 BMW M235, operated by Ogulkan Atakoglu was traveling west (outbound) on River Road. At the same time, a gray, 2016 Chevrolet Volt, operated by Michael Buarque De Macedo, was traveling east (inbound) on River Road. As the Volt was attempting to turn left onto Pyle Road the two vehicles collided.

The four occupants in the Volt, a family of two parents and two children, were all seriously injured. Three occupants succumbed to their injuries on the scene. They are being identified as, Michael Buarque De Macedo, 52 years old, driving, Alessandra M. Buarque De Macedo, 53 years old, a rear seat passenger, and Thomas Michael Buarque De Macedo, 17 years old, the front seat passenger. Helena Buarque De Macedo, a rear seat passenger, was transported to a local trauma center with life threatening injuries. Her age cannot be confirmed at this time, but she is believed to be a teenager. Mr. and Mrs. Buarque DeMacedo lived with their son Thomas and daughter Helena in the 7000 block of Loch Lomond Drive in Bethesda.

Ogulkan Atakoglu, 20 years old, was transported to a local trauma center with non-life-threatening injuries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

You can look up the dad's driving record too. He doesn't has a history of negligent driving and speeding, so there's nothing to bring up.

Personally, I feel no sympathy for the BMW driver, even if he had died. He's a driving menace with access to fast cars that he obviously didn't buy himself.

Wow. Personally I do feel sorry for a kid who will probably be haunted for life because of a mistake we have no proof he even made

[Anonymous]

Where are we getting that the BMW driver was speeding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

No 20 year old kid - and especially one with a bad driving record - should be out driving a fast BMW. Even if he was going 20 mph he's not going to win in the public's opinion as it looks like he was lavishly spoiled and acting like an idiot driving a pricey fast car in an irresponsible manner.
If his parents downgraded him to an old Subaru Outback until he could be more responsible maybe he'd be more of a sympathetic figure. But a reckless 20 year old in a bmw? Nope.

Your opinion of who should and should have a nice car has nothing to do with what happened this particular instance. Please stop placing blame, he could be the biggest spoiled brat fro all we know, but unfortunately, the other driver appears to have not yielded when making the left turn. There are probably many factors that came into play but your objection to a 20 year old driving a BMW isnt one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of posters here find the idea of a teenager making a mistake like this easier to deal with mentally than a parent making a mistake like this. But that urge shouldn't let us ruin someone's name before the facts are out.

It's a tragedy either way

Who's name is ruined?

The 20 yo BMW driver. I find it interesting and baffling that his bad driving record is being dug up while it was the 52 year old dad who made that bad left turn. Why isn't the dad's driving record not being trashed? Because he was a dad to W kids or what? He didn't yield properly and caused injuries to the BMW driver!! Would people have felt more sympathy had the BMW driver also died? He might have a bad driving record but that's prior bad acts that doesn't tell you for a fact what happened here. Even if he had been speeding, the Volt made the left turn!!!!

You can look up the dad's driving record too. He doesn't has a history of negligent driving and speeding, so there's nothing to bring up.

Personally, I feel no sympathy for the BMW driver, even if he had died. He's a driving menace with access to fast cars that he obviously didn't buy himself.

Wow. Personally I do feel sorry for a kid who will probably be haunted for life because of a mistake we have no proof he even made

Agree, wow. That PP is a horrible soulless individual.