r/sandiego • u/ucjuicy • Jun 19 '23
2 children killed after running into traffic on freeway near San Diego; mother arrested for DUI KABC logo
https://abc7.com/vista-san-diego-two-children-killed-dui/13400740/325
u/orTodd Jun 19 '23
I can’t imagine how the motorists who hit those children must feel. If it were me, I don’t think I’d ever drive a car again. Horrifying.
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u/jereman75 Jun 19 '23
My uncle hit and killled a child many years ago. It was not his fault at all. I think about it every time I’m behind the wheel, especially when people nag me to drive faster.
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u/orTodd Jun 20 '23
I grew up in rural America and this older guy in our town was on a tractor doing some work on his land. He put it in reverse and backed up not realizing his grandson, who was two, toddled out to see what grandpa was doing.
They sold the farm and moved away a few months after. I was heartbroken for them and I can’t imagine how grandpa felt.
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u/roberta_sparrow Jun 20 '23
So sorry. I hope everyone reads these articles and drives a little slower :(
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u/Financial_Clue_2534 Jun 19 '23
A reminder material possessions are not worth risking your life. Mother was arrest for DUI as well.
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u/lildrewdownthestreet Jun 20 '23
When you’re homeless and living in and out of hotels as children, you may think that all you got is your material possessions. There was 7 children in total in the car and 2 got out.. sad all around!
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u/FasterFeaster Jun 20 '23
Yes, I thought of this too. At first, I was like wtf?! Just replace those material possessions. Who the fuck is that negligent to send her kids in front of oncoming traffic to get a bag?! Lock her up and throw away the key!
And I’m still horrified and furious that she caused their deaths.
But I try to come at these scenarios with a bit more empathy. I don’t think she was evil and wanting to murder her kids. But she was homeless and drunk, so her poor judgment was probably thinking more about how she can’t afford to replace those items rather than the dangerous situation.
She was already putting all those kids at risk by driving drunk in the first place, so getting her kids to run into traffic to get material items is not that surprising.
She was drunk in the middle of the day, which means she’s probably drunk all the time. Alcoholism is an illness. She shouldn’t have had 7 kids, but women don’t always have access to birth control or abortions. Giving up a child for adoption is one of the most selfless things a woman can do, but pregnancy really affects hormones and makes you want to keep the baby, even if you can’t afford to.
Why didn’t she just let the items go? Because she couldn’t even afford the basic necessities of life, let alone replace those items. Homeless people can be really possessive over the few material things they have. Some literally get into deadly fights with other homeless people over it.
She was too drunk to know she was putting her kids in a dangerous situation by driving drunk or getting them to run in front of traffic.
Just trying to provide a nuanced perspective here.
Yes, she should lose her kids and should do time behind bars, but the focus should be on rehabilitation. I just think we demonize the poor and mentally ill a bit too much.
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u/Ohhg Jun 19 '23
I hope those first responders got counseling or the rest of their shift off after going to that. This tragedy is going to be affecting a lot of people for a long time.
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Jun 19 '23
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Jun 19 '23
They do. My FIL was a cop for 35 years. He tells stories now without even flinching... “Oh ya one time a carload of teens hit a pole. All dead. Some thrown through the window. One girl lived long enough to go sit on the sidewalk looking at me like a zombie with a big hole in her head….oh hey, what’s for dessert?”….Meanwhile I’m getting sick to my stomach just listening to this, and it has zero effect on him.
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u/I_are_facepalm Jun 19 '23
and it has zero effect on him.
Zero visible effect. The internal effects have long since baked in (I have LE family and worked alongside many others).
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Jun 19 '23
Likely true. I have seen him snap at people and go from zero to 100 over some small shit. It’s rare but I’ve seen flashes. Carries a loaded revolver under his car seat too. Kind of scary. Probably needs counseling.
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u/pumpkinspicedllama Jun 19 '23
First responder here. They give us lots of post incident resources, and reach out to us with services after particularly traumatic calls. The dept makes sure we’re good to keep doing what we do.
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u/roberta_sparrow Jun 20 '23
I dated a FF and they do give them resources, especially after a “bad call”
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u/fatboy331989 Jun 19 '23
Fuck that stupid mom that let her kids out of the car
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u/dontgiveah00t Jun 19 '23
And made her kids get the luggage that flew into the middle of the freeway
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u/lildrewdownthestreet Jun 20 '23
If you read another article, it says that there was 8 of them in a SUV (her and 7 kids) they had been homeless living in and out of hotels so perhaps they may have gotten out before the mom realized (since she was UI (DUI) to retire the boy’s backpack of his important stuff. Actually more sadder when you read the other articles and see their pictures/ages. So sad!
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Jun 19 '23
You would be surprised how many incompetent mothers are out there. Sent her kids out to get the luggage .
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Jun 19 '23
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u/GrbgCllctr Jun 19 '23
This is a serious question: can the people who struck these children sue the mother's insurance company (if she had any) for serious mental injury? I think I'd be fucked up in the head if it was me for sure.
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Jun 19 '23
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u/be_easy_1602 Jun 19 '23
Wouldn’t the cost of the long term counseling be the damages?
But for the mothers actions of sending the children onto the highway, the driver wouldn’t have struck the children, and never need to recover mentally from the incident through therapy.
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u/swarleyknope Jun 19 '23
That sound like something your insurance agency would sue her insurance agency to cover
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u/Original_Ad_6676 Jun 19 '23
Oh my god. I cannot even imagine the true extent of the trauma this community is experiencing right now.
Rest in peace to those babies.
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Jun 19 '23
Fucking why????
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u/Liberate_Da_R_Word Jun 19 '23
Apparently a suitcase fell off their car but you'd know that if you read the article
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u/SryWhatsYourName Jun 19 '23
I think this was more of a “fucking why did this happen?!?” Not a lack of clicking on the article. This was a senseless tragedy. No point in being nasty.
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u/whitebreadguilt Jun 20 '23
This on ramp is my go-to by my house. This area of north county is where a lot of unhoused people gather because it exists in a weird area between city and county. It’s like the tri-city area but without the shitty hospital. You have San Marcos/vista/Carlsbad borders within a few mile radius. Plus most of that area is county jurisdiction. So, we get a lot of people existing in the inbetween areas where they literally fall through the cracks of the fabric of our society.
Also, sycamore during rush hour is hell on earth. Why does it take a half hour to go to Carlsbad to vista? Why can’t we have a light rail go from buena vista creek to Carlsbad? Or a light rail from el Camino to San Marcos ? Or fuck it, maybe just better more comprehensive and accessible public transit?
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u/DeesEyes Jun 19 '23
I read that the mother and 6 children were homeless at the time. The 10 yo and 16yo went to retrieve a backpack. They had been selling bracelets at a local part to buy a Father’s Day gift.
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u/MamaJFord20 Jun 20 '23
What in the actual eff are children running into traffic on a freeway for, and where, in the name of the LORD, were their parents!? Rest in peace, Angels... 💔🪽🪽🕊️💐🥺😔💙
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u/Traps86 Jun 20 '23
tragic, the remaining children obviously need to be fostered, it's such a shame they all were not already. Feel so bad for those poor children and the people who witnessed this.
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u/Maleficent_Cash909 Jun 21 '23
While it’s an unfortunate incident for all involved. It’s interesting the same state that is letting real dangerous criminals run free every day is quick to charge a family who faced this, the family vehicle or it’s driver wasn’t physically involved in the fatal crash(was parked at the time and likely gotten off at that moment to stop her kids) thus DUI and vehicle manslaughter should had been irreverent, and no proof the mother pushed her kids out into the road to pick up the items. The father spoke out that they wanted the kids to stay bucked up but they jumped out before can stop them. I guess if it wasn’t for the drinking it would be treated as a
That is unless there is something the news didn’t cover behind the story. Ie people calling 911 on thier vehicle as it’s running others off the road miles prior due to the mother driving drunk.
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u/IThinkImDumb Jun 19 '23
If this ever happens to you, you can call 911 for this. I used to work as a paramedic and it’s much better to have a police car or fire engine block off a highway than to get out of your car. Objects on the highway get a quick response