This story is just wrong on so many levels...

[Ben E Lou]

Tragic, horrible, stupid....

Forsyth County crash kills 2 teens, injures 3

By DOUG NURSE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/25/05 Neat rows of red flags marked the route Tuesday that the Range Rover had taken as it skidded toward a towering power pole and the collision that killed two 16-year-olds and seriously injured three classmates.

"It looks like it was drawn by a magnet," said Forsyth County Cpl. B.A. Finley.

Kasey Flanagan, the driver, was killed instantly after his southbound SUV failed to negotiate a curve on Peachtree Parkway about 4:55 a.m. Tuesday, crossed the oncoming traffic lane, plowed through a ditch and traveled parallel to the road for about 100 yards, much of it sideways, before hitting a 115-foot pole.

Full and empty beer cans were in the vehicle. Finley said it's obvious the Range Rover was speeding, although he doesn't know how fast.

"Beer, speeding, it was dark, they weren't using seat belts, and he's an inexperienced driver," Finley said. "They're not supposed to drive between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., and they're not supposed to have more than one nonfamily member in the vehicle. There were a lot of things working against him and not much working for him."

"This was completely preventable," said Sheriff's Deputy C.P. Alexander as he examined the battered vehicle.

The impact caved in the driver's side of Range Rover, Flanagan's pride and joy, and it pushed the driver's seat into the back seating area where three of his friends sat. In the middle of the back seat was 16-year-old Zachary Shadrick, known as Beau, a renowned golfer. He also died of injuries.

Also injured in the accident were Scott Israel, 18; Zack Markel, 17; and Carter Weathington, also 17, police said. The survivors were taken to North Fulton Medical Center, where Israel and Markel were being treated for nonlife-threatening injuries and Weathington was listed in critical condition Tuesday evening, police said. All were rising seniors at Northview High School.

At the crash scene, two of Flanagan's close friends, Kyle Doonan and Brandon McCollum, both 17, came to pay their respects and try to grasp the enormity of what happened.

They said Flanagan went to an Atlanta Braves game Monday night with Northview High School buddies and then went home. Israel was spending the night.

They said the buzz among their crowd of friends was that in the early morning hours, Flanagan received a call from a friend who had been drinking at a party in Forsyth County and wanted a ride home.

Flanagan, whom they described as the kind of guy who would do anything for a friend, readily agreed to help, they said.

Despite the beer in the vehicle, they said they found it hard to believe Flanagan was drinking. "He didn't drink," McCollum said. "Never."

WRECK KILLS TEENS


Doug Nurse/AJC

Forsyth County deputy looks at remains of Range Rover that crashed Tuesday, killing two teens. • Story | Video

[Ksyrup]

Man, talk about flashbacks. The main street in Peachtree City where I went to high school was also called Peachtree Parkway, and right after our junior year ended, 4 kids from our school, including 1 or 2 who had just graduated, got into an horrific wreck where the car became airborne and crashed in a tree. Not into the trunk of the tree, but up in the branches. One girl from my class was in the back and ended up under the driver's seat, brain-dead. That whole nightmare just came flooding back when I read the first line of that story.

Very sad.

[jeff061]

Yeah, I hate reading these stories. About 6 years ago in High School a friend of mine was killed in a crash. The car was packed, they were going maybe 45 in a 30, took a turn to wide and side swiped a tree. Was not a major impact, the worse injury should of been one of the guys hands going through the windshield. But a tree branch came through the window and hit one of them in the temple, lights out, they pulled the plug the next day.

He was a good guy, this stuff all reminds me.