2 Fast 2 Furious Blamed For High-Speed Crash Deat

[Gert T 0]

My question is, does the kid get any leverage at all from the fact that the guy who died was turning left, or does all of that go out based on his speed?

[Guest thetrendsetter]

Regardless, the guy committed manslaughter or Negligence Causing Death, and this should be treated as a criminal case. He was travelling in the area of 100 MPH/160KPH, which is at least 40-50 MPH over the limit, considering he was in a residencial area, and a speed limit of 30-35 MPH is more likely a speed limit.

 

Regardless if he was inspired by the movie, he's an idiot, and should spend time in jail

[Guest WukenBloodstar]

I believe it's more human stupidity than being "inspired" by a movie. Anybody would figure out(if they had a brain) that it's a movie..and the fact it's only a movie.

[Guest Bannable Offense]

I'm no lawyer, but I'd say excessive speeding would take precedence over the guy making a left turn in the arguments. I'm thinking this guy should be convicted involuntary vehicular manslaughter at the very least. Anything below that is going too easy in this case.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

Well here's another high-speed death that the movie is getting blamed for.

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/sou...-home-headlines

 

'2Fast' led to teen's death, family says

 

By Jean-Paul Renaud

Miami Bureau

Posted June 14 2003

 

William Lacasse Jr. liked to borrow his mom's 1999 champagne-color Corvette to impress girls.

 

Late Thursday night, the 17-year-old took the car to watch 2Fast 2Furious, a movie shot on the streets of Miami that depicts the lives of a gang of street racers.

 

Shortly after Lacasse left the theater near his house in the Kendall suburbs of southwest Miami-Dade County for home, his parents were mourning their only child. His father, William Lacasse Sr., a police officer for the South Bay Police Department in Palm Beach County who relatives say was strict with his son, could only wish that he had known where the boy had gone Thursday.

 

"If he had told me that he was going to see that particular movie, he would have never taken that car," the father said. "Never."

 

Family members blame the movie for inspiring the teenager to race the drivers of two Mitsubishis -- an early morning drag race that ended when the Corvette smashed into a utility pole.

 

"It aroused his curiosity," Lacasse's uncle, Gerald Lacasse, said of 2 Fast 2 Furious. "This is related to the movie. It sparked his curiosity."

 

After a late show, Lacasse stopped for gas at a station at Southwest Eighth Street and 87th Avenue and then turned his car onto Eighth Street for the ride home. That's when he was challenged to drag race by the drivers of the two Mitsubishis, which pulled up on both sides of his car.

 

According to police reports, Lacasse took the challenge -- as any character in the movie he had just seen would have done. He lost the race and paid with his life.

 

Witnesses told police that about 12:30 a.m., the two Mitsubishis -- one black and one gray --drove in front of Lacasse and flashed their hazard lights, a code that indicates intent to race, police said.

 

After Lacasse's Corvette overtook his challengers, witnesses said he attempted to cut one of the cars off by getting on his left-hand lane, said Lt. Julio Pajon of the Florida Highway Patrol. But Lacasse took the turn too quickly, and tried to compensate with a hard right turn, Pajon said.

 

That sent the car out of control, smashing the Corvette into a utility pole at Southwest Eighth Street and 79th Avenue. The collision snapped the electric pole in two, disintegrated the Corvette and ejected Lacasse out into a grassy area a few feet away from the vehicle.

 

By the time the Florida Highway Patrol arrived, the Miami Coral Park High School senior was dead.

 

Gerald Lacasse said his nephew "always had to be home on time."

 

"He [William Jr.] was very quiet, almost too quiet," Gerald Lacasse said. "We always knew where he was. When we saw he didn't call, we became suspicious that something had happened."

 

The drivers of the two Mitsubishis fled and police are looking for any information on their whereabouts. If found, police said, the drivers could be charged.

 

"There's a nexus of involvement," Pajon said. "It will be a felony if the state attorney can associate them with the particular incident."

 

This was the second major drag-racing incident in less than a week in Miami-Dade County. On Sunday afternoon, a Porsche and a BMW collided with the car of a family returning from a day in Key Biscayne. No one was hurt in that crash, but police say it is a sign that incidents of drag racing are on the rise.

 

Some blame movies such as 2Fast 2Furious for that climb.

 

"The blood is on the hands of the makers of this movie," said State Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Hialeah. "Kids go watch this and they go out and duplicate what they saw. In real life, you die, and that's the tragedy of this movie. I really think it's irresponsible what is being shown to these kids as if it's exciting and fun."

 

On their Web site, the producers of 2 Fast 2 Furious warn drivers that "no attempts should be made to duplicate any action or car play scenes" in the film. It also reminds viewers that the dangerous stunts were performed by professionally trained drivers operating cars on closed roads.

 

In October of 2002, the Florida State Legislature passed a bill sponsored by Arza that identified drag racing as a misdemeanor, giving police the power to prosecute offenders with that particular offense. If caught, violators face a maximum fine of $500 and suspension of their driver's license for a year. Repeat offenders are penalized more harshly -- a third offense results in the permanent suspension of the driver's license.

 

"Local governments should find a place where kids can do this," Arza said. "We should look at that."

 

WTVJ-Ch. 6 contributed to this report.

 

Jean-Paul Renaud can be reached at [email protected] or 305-810-5001.

 

So let me get this straight... Dad says he'd have never let his 17 year old son take the Corvette (akin to placing a loaded handgun in a baby crib) if he knew that his immature son was going to go see the movie. And yet, it's somehow the movie's fault???

 

Sorry dad... I'm not trying to mock your grieving... but if you said you wouldn't have given him the car, that implies that he wouldn't be able to handle it. Quit shifting the blame.

 

I'm pretty digusted the police spokesperson blamed the movie at all, yes, it infulences and glamorizes, but some idiot still has to parrot the actions, nobody put a gun to this kid's head and made him race.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

What happened to parents teaching kids what's right and what's wrong? Obviously at 17 the kid is adult enough to know better. But at an earlier age, the kid should of known what he shouldn't do. That's the parents responsibility.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

What happened to parents teaching kids what's right and what's wrong? Obviously at 17 the kid is adult enough to know better. But at an earlier age, the kid should of known what he shouldn't do. That's the parents responsibility.

 

I'm just wondering when the parents are going to sue the makers of the movie for "killing their son" or just when someone will sue the movie period. You know it's going to happen.

[Guest WukenBloodstar]

Again..why blame it on the kid since he was stupid enough to race. Just blame it on the movie, shifts the blame from making the parents look like complete retards and making the producers of the movie into heartless bastards.