Tragic accident in CT

I saw this on the news Saturday night. The car looked to be lowered and in primer. What a shame.



One Dead After Vintage Car Loses Wheel, Crashes
By JODIE MOZDZER | Courant Staff Writer
<DL class=byline><DD>11:36 AM EDT, August 24, 2008 </DD></DL>MERIDEN - A Torrington woman was killed Saturday night when the car she was a passenger in lost a wheel and crashed into a metal guide rail on I-691.

The left rear wheel of the 1954 Buick Special, driven by Justin St. Pierre, 27, of Winsted, came off as it was driving west on I-691 at about 6 p.m. The car veered into the grassy area on the right shoulder. Passenger Jessica Robinson, 23, of 156 Park Ave., was killed after she was ejected when the right side door opened, according to the police report.

St. Pierre was not injured in the accident, according to the police report.

There were no other cars involved. State police continue to investigate.

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Horrible to hear.

 

man thats horrible.

 

someone just posted this? *edit* i mean another post entirely

 

I just heard about this today at work...... always sad!

 

Buckleup.

 

Enough already on the bashing bullshit. That's what gets threads closed.

 

Indeed, this is a tragic accident. My thoughts and prayers go out to the girl's family.

 

I'll Edit out the Drama.

And for the people that felt the need to ad to the Drama and Jump to conclusions about this Accident, show some couth....

 

Pryers go out to the family and friend of Jessica. I hate to hear about the lost of someone who is so young. ....

 

Oh my...sad story.
wear your belts!

 

Man, that's awful. I can't imagine how bad that guy must feel. Even though I don't legally need them I've got seatbelts in the sedan, wouldn't dream of driving without them.

 

thats horrible but no offense what happened to the car

 

TORRINGTON — A city woman was thrown clear of her boyfriend's spinning car and killed on I-691 in Meriden on Saturday, leaving her family and a large circle of friends to cope with a sudden and bewildering loss.

State police said Justin St. Pierre, 27, of Winsted, was at the wheel of his westbound 1954 Buick Special when the left rear wheel came off, causing the vintage car to spin out of control around 6 p.m. The passenger side door opened before the car hit the guard rail, for reasons not yet understood, and Jessica Robinson, 23, was thrown clear, police said. The vehicle, which was not equipped with seat belts, came to rest after striking the rail.

St. Pierre was unhurt.

"They were on their way to a family party," said Scott Butcher, a close friend of both St. Pierre and Robinson, and Robinson's former landlord. Butcher said St. Pierre, who could not be reached for comment, was devastated.

"Some people are blaming him ... it's not his fault," Butcher said, adding that St. Pierre had described the accident in stark detail. "They really loved each other. For the rest of his life, he has to live with that image."

Police said there is no reason to suspect St. Pierre was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The crash, police said, was caused by a mechanical failure that caused the wheel to become completely detached. Investigators are still working to determine if Robinson was struck by the spinning car or another object. She was pronounced dead at Midstate Medical Center.

"She spent her whole life trying to help everybody," Butcher said. "It's an absolute tragedy."

Robinson was a nursing student who worked at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, and previously worked at Litchfield Woods Health Care Center on Roberts Street. She was known for going above and beyond with countless acts of kindness on behalf of residents at the nursing home.

"She would do anything for anybody. She was that kind of person," said Jessica Conti, a fellow nurse's aide at Litchfield Woods. "It's just really sad. I'm just still shocked."

Butcher said his 1-year-old daughter would throw open her arms and squeal with delight at the sight of Robinson, who rented an apartment in his 318 Park Ave. home for a time before the financial strain of full-time school forced her to move back home with her parents, who live nearby.

Family members could not be reached for comment. Robinson is also survived by two younger brothers.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
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Bad news. Sound like what happened to Ryan not too long ago. Has almost happened to me before....I was going 60 on the highway but got the car stopped before the wheel came completely off. Lucky as hell...

Be safe folks.

 

That's very sad,for sure! When something like this happens, the people who aren't into our hobby like to talk shit. Just makes a sad situation worse. My heart goes out to the driver and the familys...

 

I read this in todays paper, very sad! My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and to him!

 

Geez that's terrible. That will likely haunt that poor guy the rest of his life.

We can take lessons from it though. Build em safe and buckle up. Prayers go out to friends and family of both of them

 

How sad and tragic. She sounded like a wonderful young woman who will be missed by everyone she touched and my heart goes out her family.

 

absolutely terrible.....worse news Ive ever read on the hamb. prayers sent

 

So sad to hear.. prayers to the family.

i hope everyone..including myself think twice about using those crusty rusty axles and wheel studs!..shell out the coin whenever possible for a better part to be safer. (no im not saying the buick had rusty axles and wheelstuds)

 

oh wow, that really spooks the hell out of me. im 27, my girlfriend is 23, we live in ct, i drive a 54 (ford) . my thoughts and prayers go out to not only her, but him as well. that is a ton of guilt to deal with

 

Bad shit! All the more reason to check things out on your car periodically, whether it's a rod or something newer! Had a wheel come off at 30 mph and had ZERO indication anything was wrong until it left the car!

Truly a shame about the folks involved.

 

prayers and condolences to her family..

 

howd the wheel come off

 

Terrible tragedy, and living with it for the rest of your life would be hell.

Reafirms my decision to install seatbelts in my 35 Ford pickup.

My condolences to the family and friends.

 

I delayed my trip to Des Moines GoodGuys this summer until I finished installing seat belts in the Deuce pickup before we started down there. I didn't want to be in it without them.

Another thing is that the old car door latches were not nearly as good as they are today. Bearclaw latches are a good safety update.

 

I've got a '54 Special. These have wheel bolts, not studs and lugnuts. C-clip axles, but an axle doesn't just snap while driving down the road. The bolts could have backed out, or the wheel could have been fatigued and failed with the center coming out of it. Pure speculation, but there aren't many things that will make a wheel just fall off, so everyone can draw their own conclusions.

They've also got the old style door latches, not the "bear claw" post style latches. It might be possible the door popped open when the body torqued and twisted, but the frames on these things are built like tanks...they all had a big beefy convertible-style X-member, plus a full box frame. You can practically lift the whole side of the car from one corner.

It's entirely possible she grabbed onto something when the car started sliding around, and was unlucky enough to grab the door handle. I know the bench seat in mine makes it real easy to slide around. There isn't much in there to grab onto when you start sliding.

A $20 lap belt kit would have saved her life. It is NEVER better to get thrown from the vehicle.

-Brad

 

Regardless of what happened, it's a shame to lose a useful member of society at such a young age.

 

Lugnuts were loose and the wheel and tire went away about two seconds after a thump-thump sound. A couple of miles after getting new tires on some steel wheels. The wheel guy got the nuts barely snug. No hubcaps to catch the loose ones after they departed. Interesting day, just grateful there was no traffic around me on a secondary street when it did happen. The other three wheels were tightened up correctly.

And, yes, the Terraplane DOES have new seat belts in it!