http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...0410&qs=1;bp=t

Police Say Speeding May Be To Blame

POSTED: 4:19 pm EST November 2, 2004
UPDATED: 5:55 pm EST November 2, 2004
BOSTON -- Speeding is thought to be the cause of a deadly car crash Monday night that killed two sisters ages 3 and 6.

Video

Jorge Quiroga Reports On Accident
NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that the accident occurred at rush hour in Freetown, Mass.

Police said that the car carrying the little girls went out of control on Route 24, as the driver was heading toward Fall River. The car hit a guardrail, then a tree.

"I lost control. I couldn't drive. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare," said Claudio ***undo, the victims' uncle, said.

The two sisters were riding in the white Nissan Maxima at about 6 p.m. Monday when their aunt, 19-year-old Stacey Feliciano, of Fall River, lost control of the car. A cousin, a 15-year-old girl from Taunton, Mass., and Feliciano's 15-month-old baby girl were also in the car.

"She was distracted. She took her eyes off the road and just for that split second caused her to drift toward the guard rail," Massachusetts State Police Trooper Brian Anderson said.

The car went flying off the road.

"The car was off the road, I would say 50 feet, into the woods. It actually knocked over a tree where it came to rest against another tree," Anderson said.

The three youngest children were riding in the back seat. But only the 15-month-old, who was riding in an infant seat, survived.

Phillip Dagget saw the accident and stopped.

"The car was a total wreck, especially the passenger side of the vehicle. The three left in the vehicle were unconscious," Dagget said.

Dagget, a trained EMT, thinks all the children were in car seats, as does their uncle.

"We have always been very cautious about keeping them in car seats -- always wearing belts, always wearing car seats," ***undo said.

But the state police insist that the two young sisters were not properly restrained.

"Had they been in car seats they would have had a much greater chance of surviving," Anderson said.

Feliciano was not home Tuesday afternoon to comment on the accident. Her baby and 15-year-old niece remained hospitalized.

 

Thats really sad, i used to speed like crazy, ive decided its not worth it and have calmed down. Tragedy aside, i'm actually impressed with how intact the maxima was. I also NEVER lose concentration when i'm on the highway and especially when speeding. I think 95% of accidents happen because of that and you just can't look down, etc. Also, she didn't have the car seats and that was just stupid, but not as stupid as speeding with others in the car, especially little kids!! This is more of a case of incompetency than speeding, but speed will kill.

 

[sarcasm] No, this is why women shouldn't be allowed to drive. [/sarcasm]

 

She hit the guardrail. Even if she was doing the limit she would have lost it, maybe not as badly. This kind of stuff happens everyday...

 

i have to agree with the dude above...if you are driving a baby and a young girl in the car, you shouldn't be going crazy and driving careful...now when im alone in my car, oh its on like donkey kong biatch! but when i have my lady friend in the car, i drive like an old lady in a whale size lincoln continential. its sad to hear about these kind of accidents, i hope everything works out for them.

Tony

 

that's really sad... my prayers go out their family. it's sad to hear about the loss of a life, especially when it's the lives of 2 young girls.

 

Wow thats very sad, I cant imagine the cross that poor girl will have to carry on her back for the rest of her life.

 

the past 2 days i have been speeding like crazy, i mean sometimes i just get hyped up and feel like going faster for some reason, but sometimes i just like to take it slow and easy. i dont know today i was racing a 5.0 mustang, he slowed down i kept going. and dam i just hate my fawken breaks. neways i try to avoid speeding at all costs

 

i know where that is on route 24, it is an awesome highway but because of this alot of people tend to go alot faster than they should averaging 85-95mph. there is one lesson we can atleast take away from this alwats ear your seat belt.

 

Poor little maxi, another one lost b/c someone was speeding any not paying attention.

 

If you were to speed in Mass...24 would be the place to do it. Not one person on that road does the speed limit. Old ladies do 85 on that road. Not many cops either. Too bad about the deaths...the babies and the maxima.

 

That's sad. I try to go w/ the flow of traffic but when a new accord asks for it, I can't help it but to hand it to him

 

The 24 is insanity. On my way in and out of MA driving on the 24 felt like driving on an autobahn. I was averaging 90MPH...and cars were still passing me! It was the most surreal driving experience of my life!

 

Welcome to Rush Hour in Louisville in the spring. Atlanta too.

 

*Don't mean to change subject...just curious*

How come that Max had chrome door handles, but it was clearly an SE?

 

that is sad man.... i dont speed @ all reason cause i dont wanna pay no ticket cause i rather put those money into my car. and you get better mpg and all other lists...

 

I personally mod my car so it DOES go faster and handle better...sorta turning it into the "poor man's BMW" , and mpg is the last thing I'm thinking about when I drop cash into my car. I pray for perfect driving conditions and for everyone in the world to know how to drive well, but such is never the case. Accidents will always happen.

 

at least the 15 month old survived. Thank god for correctly installing a car seats. There is no need to drive that fast with kids in the car. Or that fast at all if you don't have the proper equipment and not on public roads. I could care less about the maxima.

 

i'm 5 mins. from where this happened....there are some good spots where cops sit on 24 before bridgewater but my fav. is the one in the middle when it becomes 3-4 lanes right before the BK rest area on 24N behind those trees on that dirt pathway.

 

My buddy used to live in Fall River so I would drive 24 all the time. If I wasn't doing 90 I would be getting passed. Only place I ever saw cops was around the xchange with 495. Only road I've ever gone over 120 in the max. Even friends in the car would be amazed at how fast we were going because it seemed like we were doing 60(how the max handles at high speeds and because everyone else was flying). That is a crazy road.
P.S. the road should have those grooves cut into it so if you drift it makes alot of noise.

 

Damn that sux man. I dunno what people are thinking. I usually speed when im by my self and usually calm when someone is in the car with me.

 

I'm as sorry to see this car wreck happen as anyone.

The cause of this wreck (not accident), like most wrecks, appears to be inattention. It doesn't matter all that much how fast you are going, if you're not paying attention to what you are doing. Even if you are going zero MPH, you can have a wreck if you are not paying attention (you could have gotten out the way of whoever is trying to run into you).

 

Speeding is bad, there is no point. Do it for fun and risk people's lives.. okay whatever. Stupid reason.
Cause it will save you time? 20 minutes ain't worth tickets or lives.
You're a good driver? So what?
Are other people good drivers? No.
Want to speed? Take it to the track.
I'm sorry, but I have serious animosity for people who speed over and beyond the speed limit on a constant basis.

 

What is dangerous is driving too fast for conditions or not paying attention to what you are doing. This is not the same thing as exceeding a posted speed limit.

Speed limits are often set artificially low or at some arbitrary value by statute. Exceeding a posted speed limit may or may not be dangerous.

Many people know this. That's why so many people disrespect speed limits. If the speed limit is set artifiicially low, this only teaches people to disrespect the law.

 

The point of posting this is simply...watch how you drive....just a friendly reminder so you dont have to through what this family is going through.

 

are you joking did you not read that the two kids DIED?

human life > maxima

 

i always see them when i would pass buy the mobil gas stations and right where 495 exits onto 24. but i just slow down since i know they will be there.

 

I'm looking for this sign (Baby on board). I have a niece who's about to be one years old. I love her to death and I don't want anything to happen to her. Everytime she's in my car, I drive like a grandma.

When i'm alone, that's different. Sometimes my anger takes control of me, I need readjust and re-learn. Peace..