I'm irritated. This is just fucking stupid. This was avoidable. These boys were infants when Illinois passed its seatbelt law. Unlike me and two of my sisters, they have never known a world where they weren't required to wear a seatbelt. Unlike previous generations of Northbrook youth, they were inundated with preaching about the dangers of drinking and doing anything more than sit on your ass. I'm reminded of an event when I was in elementary school, where a drunk North student crashed his car, and the only fatality (let alone serious injury) was the only sober kid in the car being killed by the light pole that fell onto the car. I believe this was one of the catalysts for Northbrook's drug and alcohol awareness movement.
Part of me wants to say they got what they deserved, that humanity is served by taking them out of the gene pool. (The driver, once he gets out of the hospital, will certainly do time in jail.) But that platform's a bit hollow. These are boys that used to hang out in my family's garage. My little sister was friends with them, they ran in the same crowds, they went to prom in the same group. I didn't know them, but my sister did, and so did other people whose opinions I respect, so it's hard for me to slam them. I won't go so far as to use the word "tragic", because nothing that people do to themselves is tragic, but it's sad, pathetic, and fucking wrong.
[Side note: Anyone commenting anonymously needs to demonstrate they have something worthwhile to say. If you passed English at North, you should have the skills. Unsigned, aggravated crying will be dismissed without response or unscreening. If this bothers you, See Figure 1.]
