Responsible parties, or is it irresponsible parties?

[John Hofstetter <hofs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Digesters,

This story is out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near where we live.
The names are immaterial to you, but they help me get the story
straight.  Besides that, I didnt want to have to type it twice.

We were at Spicers Reservoir over the 4th, and peripherally involved in
a strange set of happenings.  A bunch of young folks from the Angels
Camp area were up there to participate in the 2nd annual Brian Porovich
Memorial Jeep Run. Brian was killed a couple of years ago in a Jeep
rollover.

So, there were 7 young Jeepers injured in accidents caused by
irresponsible driving perhaps enhanced by alcohol. None of the
accidents happened in the slick rock or other 4 wheeling areas. Two of
the three roll overs happened on the gravel road around the three lakes
that are up there. Gong way too fast on loose gravel. In one of the
accidents, two young women riding in the back seat were airlifted to
two different hospitals.  The two guys were also thrown out, but their
injuries were not as serious. Interestingly enough, the 4 bodies were
found by a too-young-to-have-a-license driver who was coming along
behind them. Another Jeep was rolled in similar circumstances with two
guys in it. The third accident apparently was caused by drivers error
when a young fellow was coming to the party in his mothers Cherokee.

Remember that all these people were there to help raise money for the
two children left fatherless when Brian was killed two years earlier.
It seems strange to me that most of the kids in the roll overs had
parents and even grandparents there at the campsite. Letting your
drinking child go out after dark on twisty gravel roads, or maybe even
worse to let your child go as a passenger in one of these vehicles
boggles my comprehension of the obligations of parenthood.

John Hofstetter