ZtotallynakedZ

Stupid fuckers didn't manage to kill themselves, but their passengers


UPDATE: Deadly race described by prosecutor
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/15/07
BY JAMES A. QUIRK, NICK CLUNN AND MICHELLE SAHN
STAFF WRITERS

Post Comment
NEPTUNE — Three men have been charged with racing in connection with a deadly Route 33 accident last night that claimed the lives of three passengers in one of the cars involved in the race.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin, in a press conference this afternoon, said charges of racing would be filed against the drivers of three cars: Nelson Villanueva, 19, who was driving a 1988 Madza 626 Turbo; Carlos Ortiz, 24, who was driving a 1993 Honda Accord and Miguel Marrero, 22, who was driving a 1991 Honda Civic. All three men are from NeptuneTownship.

Three passengers died in Villanueva's car: John "Muff" Richardson Jr., 20; and two brothers, Jesse Otero, 19, and Valentin Oterocruz Jr., 20. All three were from Neptune Township.

One other passenger in Villanueva's car survived Robert Rodriguez, 20, from Ocean Township, who was sitting behind the driver.

The accident happened at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Route 33 and West Bangs Avenue.

Villanueva, Ortiz and Marrero have been charged with racing, which is a disorderly persons offense, and a motor vehicle offense of reckless driving, Valentin said.

Ortiz was also charged with speeding 65 mph in a 45 mph zone, and with improper lane change.

Villanueva was also charged with driving while license was suspended/revoked; operating an uninsured vehicle, operating an unregistered vehicle, displaying ficticious license plates and speeding in excess of 70 mph in a 45 mph zone.

An autopsy revealed all three victms died instaneously of blunt force trauma, Valentin said.

Valentin gave the following description of the accident:

Three cars - driven by Ortiz, Villanueva and Marrero - began at a traffic light in front of Jersey Shore University Medical Center heading west on Route 33.

The three cars raced west until they stopped for a red light at the intersection of Routes 33 and 18. When the light turned green, the three resumed racing, at speeds well over 65 mph, westbound on Route 33.

As the three cars approached the intersection of West Bangs Avenue, Lazary Roseboro 35, of Farmingdale, driving a 2005 Acura TSX eastbound on 33, attempted to make a left turn onto West Bangs.

Ortiz, in the lead of race and traveling in the left hand lane of Route 33, narrowly missed Roseboro's vehicle.

Villanueva, racing in the right hand lane, struck the middle of the passenger side of Roseboro's car.

The force of the impact pushed Roseboro's car off the road, where it collided with and fractured a utility pole. Roseboro is listed in stable condition in local hospital, Valentin said.

Ortiz left the scene of the accident.

Neither Ortiz nor Marrero's vehicles were damaged.

Villanueva was transported to Jersey Shore Medical Center with multiple injuries and serious head trauma. He is in critical condition, Valentin said.

There may be further charges pending, Valentin said.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art.../NEWS/70315003

Poor TSX didn't stand a chance:

Whiskers

About 20 miles from where I grew up....Idiots.

Marc S

not to wish harm on anyone. but i hate how its kinda the innocent ones that get killed.

Whiskers

Also, what kind of morons race on route 33....It has a traffic light every mile....

ZtotallynakedZ

Not out in Millstone

Whiskers

Maybe every 2 miles then.....

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

stupid fuckers should be hanged

phile

i hope these claims, I'd soo point out this thread.

SSMTL01

is it me or does it sound like the tsx driver that pulled out in front of three cars is at fault there is no mention of the people racing running a red light.. maybe locals to this area can help me out

shrykhar

The TSX driver was an innocent and survived the crash; I thought the title meant otherwise.

But yeah, TSX

ZtotallynakedZ

That whole area is just an accident waiting to happen. The spot that it happened in is pretty straight, but I mean, it was at night, and they were severely speeding for that area of road.

oneilc

A 626 (145hp), an Accord (125hp) and a Civic (108hp)? What's the point? They're all slow (and I'm being generous with the hp numbers).

Bunch of asses ....

ZtotallynakedZ

I saw one of the driver's on the news-either he's in shock or honestly didn't care he just was involved in the killing of his buddies.

gtg710w

I thikn this i s what happened. All three are at light, and launches as soon as light turns green, but at the same time, TSX driver on the other side thought that she can dodge the traffic and make a left turn, and tsx gets t-boned by mazda.

I believe that tsx driver is also at fault, probably her failure to yield. What I don't understand is the mazda driver. By the time he was about to crash into tsx, half way across intersection, I bet mazda was going no faster than 15mph, and he didn't have enough time to brake?

anyway these kids had it coming, I just feel bad for TSX, its driver and kids who were in Mazda, but not the driver of it.

ZtotallynakedZ

Regardless, TSX driver lived, while the Mazda passengers all died

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

There is NO way the TSX would have sustained that much damage from those cars launching from the light.

In fact, they were approaching the intersection at their racing speeds and that's when the collision occured. It even said in the article:

SanJoseRoller

then the driver in the TSX must have not payed attention and shot out in front of cars racing

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Too many people do not pay attention to the velocity of the incoming traffic. They just glance real quick, and if they think it's far enough away at that specific moment, they make the move, completely disregarding the speed it is approaching at.

This is one of the first things they teach in Germany -- to estimate the velocity of vehicles coming toward you because that little dot in your rear view mirror on the autobahn could be going a 150 mph and be on top of you within 2 seconds. You don't want to make a lane change in front of a fast-moving vehicle.

65 mph = 94.9 fps

Time to stop at an intersection, look both ways then pull out = approximately 2 seconds, at which point the TSX got nailed in the outside lane of the intersecting road. This is important, because it signifies the TSX didn't get too far before it got hit, which means the driver really wasn't paying attention to their speed. If the TSX were to be hit in the inner lane of the intersecting road, it means the racing vehicles were further away, but that wasn't the case. As soon as she pulled out, she got hit.

94.9 fps x 2 seconds = 189.8 feet

If you don't see fast-moving vehicles at 189.8 feet away coming at you, then you don't belong behind the wheel in the first place.

My conclusion = TSX driver did not carefully watch the inbound traffic speed.

Sure, it's their fault that they were racing. But hell, the TSX driver is equally at fault for not paying attention and pulling out in front of them.

But that's just my opinion based on the information stated in the article.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

^^^

Both parties are technically at fault. The TSX driver was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Had he used good judgement, this wouldn't have happened. This isn't an excuse for the racers, but it's different when the person turned into their path opposed to if a racer lost control and then hit someone else.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

Another note about speeding. And it just goes to show how stupid people are. I once knew a girl that swore on her life, that anyone that goes over the posted speed limit, is no longer "in control" of their vehicle and that they shouldn't do that because of that.

When she told me that I was like and at the same time. She actually believed after further discussions with her, that the government uses those speeds because that is what "everyone" is capable of driving at and everyone should follow that. again I was like and

I then told her what if someone drives under the speed limit on the freeway, is that safe for them, she said yes. Then I told her what if they were in the fast lane. She still said yes. Then I asked her what if that person causes and accident for not driving the posted speed limit and others were forced to go around them because they weren't going the speed limit. She still believe it wouldn't be there fault because they were "abiding" by the law.

Abiding by the law my ass, try going 40mph in the fast lane on any so cal freeway and watch what happens to your a$$, you'll either cause an accident, or people will get pissed at you and keep cutting you off thereby causing an accident. And the notion that everyone is out of control if they go over the speed limit is

some people are just stupid.

Texas

Folks----The key word is racing as in road racing …down this way it is a felony…take some one out as in this case (3) and you have vehicular manslaughter…’put ya so far under the jail they have to pipe light to ya’….

Take the racing to the drag strip or track…it can happen quick on the street and there is no undo button in court…con Dios..

Papa_Sean

8/10 times its a woman driver and it pisses me off

ZtotallynakedZ

The one kid had a suspended license and no insurance for a reason

LuvMyTSX

I heard this story on the Philly news Wed. night while on the elliptical at the gym. Thought I recognized a mangled TSX. One thing that pisses me off is that all the family/friends/relatives of the racers were saying how they were such good kids, never did anything wrong, blah blah blah....well, how can you say that when they were charged with the stuff they were charged with? Fake plates? Suspended/revoked license? Uninsured car? Yeah, they sound like GREAT upstanding citizens to me.

My opinion? Good. Less idiots on the road.

badboy

Wondering why you picked 65 mph as their speed.

Mokos23

TSX, but the good thing is it saved the driver.

Not a fan of posers I mean that's so unsafe and none of the 3 cars are fast anyways all of them have less than 200 hp morons

CLpower

sounds like plenty of room to race

speedzer

Not to mention, one car had 4 people in it...I can't imagine how long it took for that mazda to get up to 65....20 seconds?

ZtotallynakedZ

Here's a great video from one of the survivors:
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...DEO01/70315059

mr.motoring

Here's what I understand:

TSX is at a light-protected intersection, attempting a left turn with a turn-when-safely-possible green light. TSX only has to concentrate on oncoming traffic (speeding or not) from one direction, westbound Rt 33.

TSX only sees Accord, thinks the turn is doable, and proceeds. 626 is behind Accord and hidden from view from TSX. Now for a rough timeframe estimation (and based on Pure Adrenaline's calculations), for Accord to narrowly miss TSX, TSX should spend no more than one second occupying space in the westbound left lane. That gives TSX just enough time to clear Accord, but doesn't have another second to clear 626.

I'm not siding with the racers, but the TSX made a bad decision and is at fault. Assuming that the westbound right lane was empty is bad driving judgment. Technically, Accord and 626 have the right of way thru the intersection, morally for speeding they don't. The best course of action would have been to slow down to 45 and be prepared for drivers who don't trespass cautiously. This is especially true for 626 since he doesn't have a good view ahead of traffic activity to his left which is blocked by Accord.

How tragic the outcome. Ironically, the "racing" drivers were passing thru cemetary alley, as indicated by the two yellow circles in the lower right of the map.

Trojanman750

in the city ive seen races on streets with lights every 1/4 mile. if we had a place with a one mile straightaway kids would be going nuts out here

why do kids think their shitty old japanese cars are race cars...and driving with 3 kids in the back are they nuts??

Trojanman750

haha i was just about the say that....stupid woman driver made a dumb left turn and 3 kids are dead because of it!

LuvMyTSX

There are lots of guys who drive like idiots too ya know...

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

In the article, tt states that they were going in excess of 65. Since nobody can quantify "in excess of" for certain in this case, I used the speed that was mentioned in the article twice.

They also mentioned 70 mph.

70 mph = 102.2 fps

102.2 fps x 2 seconds = 204.4 feet




Do you know what the law states? When you are turning at an intersection and do not have the right of way, the responsibility is all on you. Sure, laws differ everywhere, but this one is virtually all the same, based on what I've been through and heard.

A few months ago, I had an accident when a guy pulled out in front of me. He told the cops I was speeding, I was turning, blah blah blah. The cops said to him that it does not matter what I was doing because I had the right of way. I could've been going 70 in 35, smoking a joint and drinking a beer, and I would still not be at fault of the accident.

Sure, I would get a speeding ticket, illegal possession of controlled substance, and open intox in a motor vehicle... but I would not be penalized for causing the accident. And even though the article tried to emphasize the racing part and downplay the TSX driver's fault, you can still see that the street racers were not technically, legally at fault of the accident.

After all, the main cause of the accident was the TSX pulling out in front of traffic. The speeding on the racers' part was just a contributing factor.

charliemike

Helps to read the whole thread.

Right of way laws need to be changed to take into account speeding. Turning when safe when assuming the oncoming car is doing 45 to find out he's doing 70 (approaching about 1.5x as fast) should mitigate responsibility unless it can be determined that the turning driver would have cut off the oncoming car at the legal speed limit.

ZtotallynakedZ

Good point-I know I have difficulty at night determining how close cars are coming at me, especially if there are no street lights. If I see a car coming, and I am not sure how far they are, I wait.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Where do we draw the line, then?

1 mph over? 10 mph? 20 mph? And how would you justify your decision? Based on the amount of traffic, average speed in that intersection, time of day? Also, would you apply the same rules to every intersection in every city and state? The answer is no, which means you will need to come up with different rules for different intersections. The police officer's handbook just got ten times thicker, and the accident investigation bureau's lengh of work five times longer.

And how would you determine the speed it was travelling at? It's all good if a cop happened to be there clocking people with radar or there was a traffic video camera. But otherwise, it's anybody's guess. Accident reconstruction? It's not 100% accurate.

In other words, if the speed limit is 45, and I'm going 55 and you pulled out in front of me. Is it my fault? Just because I'm going 10 over? What if I was going 46 in 45? I'm still technically speeding. Is it my fault? If you answered differently to my questions, then at what speed over the limit is it my fault and not yours? And how do you prove what speed I was travelling at? Where do we draw the line? And how do we investigate and justify beyond doubt? There would be much confusion and controversy.

It's more logical to make it the responsibility of the driver who is making the turn. After all, speeding is just a contributing factor. Even if I was going 100 in 45, there wouldn't be an accident if you paid attention to the velocity of the approaching vehicle and did not pull out in front of it.

It's easy to place the blame on others. But right-of-way is pretty simple when it comes down to it. You don't have the right of way, you need to be more careful of the incoming traffic. Yes, you should be able to expect reasonable speed from other motorists. But not everyone goes the speed limit and not everyone drives the same way. It is your responsibility to make a sound judgement whether you can safely pull out in front of traffic or not.

By the way, I bolded the last sentence in your post because you said it yourself... the key point is cutting off traffic. Regardless of whether I'm going 35 or 75 in a 45 zone, you're still technically cutting off traffic because you're crossing my lane. Therefore it is your responsibility to watch out for me.

mr.motoring

You're kidding me right? How the heck did you get your license? All I know is, when I got mine, they made sure I could see.

Maybe the DMV should modify the visual tests to include the question: Exactly, thank you.

If one cannot judge a successful turn thru oncoming traffic, one waits. Its as simple as that. Why would anyone want to risk their life so that they can rest assured that if they were to get T-boned, the blame would fall on the speeding traffic, if that were the exception to the right-of-way?

Not only that, it would be different if the TSX got clipped by the 626 in the rear bumper, but the car got directly nailed broadside. This means that the driver couldn't judge a kindergarden macaroni art contest worth a damn, let alone judge his/her own motor skills.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

^^^

SSMTL01

i posted that before anybody even mentioned it... post #9.. but thanks though