This Has Me SOOOOO Mad! and Crying to Boot!

They can punish her all they want, she will never be able to forgive herself.

It all sounds tragic.

The driver couldn't pull over b/c there was no shoulder to pull over on. She was calling for help right before the accident.

She is already going to be charged with homicide for the no lights and remaining in the lane, I don't see why it is necessary for adding the carseats to the charge, it's already grim. Really, what more punishment can she receive? It's a terrible, unfortunate situation that this women is probably incredibly horrified and depressed over, these kids were her relatives and though likely preventable, still an accident.

Should the hazard lights have been on? Yes. Should the children have been in car seats? Absolutely!

But there wasn't a shoulder for her to pull onto (It says that in the report). So even though she was incredibly stupid for not having the hazard lights on and for not having the children in car seats, the fact that she didn't pull over shouldn't be held against her because there was nothing she could do about it.

It is horrible. And the kids should have been buckled in and stayed in the car seats if the car was in traffic, but, what if you parked your car in the safest place possible, and as you unbuckled your child from their seat to get out, another car came and hit you, would it be fair to site you for not having the child buckled in? Maybe this M. was going to get them out of the car and it all happend too fast. Maybe not, but, there is a point when your children are IN the car, and NOT buckled in their seats.
As for not having the flashers on, some younger drivers dont even know about those flashers, and probably have never had to use them. In the panic of the car stalling out in traffic, she may have just not thought about them. I had car trouble a few weeks ago and needed to put my flashers on, and its been years since I needed them, and I had to hunt around my steering column to find the button for mine. In those few seconds, a car could have come and hit me. This woman has lost her children, and Im not about to be one to punish her more for what could happen to many of us.

Because, really, your children dead isn't punishment enough.

But really... This is NORMAL.

LESSER charges (especially ones that ate difficult to impossible to prove) are dropped in the wake of HUGE charges.

Seatbelt violation v Negligent Homicide.

I'm not even a defense attorney and the following LEAPS to mind (the distraught mother, was trying to get her children out of the car and to safety. Gets the older children undone first and was trying to get them out of the car, when they were struck from behind. She hadn't even had time to do more than to shout to the kids to get out of the car, much less grab the baby...

I think that being charged with criminally negligent homicide is enough - what would a few petty car seat violations do on top of that? I find it alarming that 6 people were in a 5 passenger car to begin with as well. What a terrible accident.

We already have plenty of training and education in place. It's just like cigarettes. Everyone KNOWS they are bad for you but people smoke anyway.

Stupid is as stupid does, and this 22 year old gets to live with the guilt of being responsible for the death of 2 young children for the rest of her life.
What could be worse than that?

There but for the grace goes I or YOU! Don't add any more pain to her already hell. Compassion is what is needed!

It doesnt say she didn't have them in safety seats while they were driving J. that they werent in them. Also there was NO shoulder. Stupid to let them get out of seats, but maybe they got really bored and were begging to move around? Bad decision with a tragic outcome yes, but I think that all adults in the sittuation (driver of both vehicles and passangers) have a horrible thing to live with and shouldn't be judged by us.
We've all at one time done really stupid things with our kids that could have ended tragically , luckily they didnt. We're all suceptible (sp) to bad judgement at times

Four children under five in the back seat of a car, only one in a car seat! Unless she was fleeing from an emergency and attempting to save their lives, this is just wrong. The lack of shoulder on the highway is way after the fact. Totally preventable, you are right.

What about the poor driver that accidentally killed two children doing nothing wrong? I can't imagine living with that.

I think that is horrid! Just because the car wasn't moving doesn't mean the children should be out of their seats and belts. They were still ON the road were not using common sense by using hazards or any lights. I think this is truly tragic that the poor children died for lack of common sense.

I couldn't tell if the kids all had carseats and some were just not in them or if they took kids on a highway without carseats. Either way this is tragic.

When I was younger would have gotten upset and started to cry as you did now I'm just the avenger child protector. I will say something to a neglectful parent, no car seat, kids left unattended, wandering through a parking lot ect --if I see the same parent and kids again repeating the behavior I take down their license number if possible and call the police. I report what I saw --- the officer can go and talk to the parents and hopefully make them understand. But unfortunately you can't fix stupid.

I didn't read the story. Reading everyone's responses were enough. I don't need any more imagery. (gag)

Unfortunately, I've seen many children without carseats, and have reported it.

Call 911 if you see anyone driving with children unbuckled. (Take down a license plate number, make, model, and correct color of the car, and try to figure out how many people are in the car, as well as, a description of the driver. Be able to specifically describe where the car is....south bound on hwy X, around mile marker X --or near intersection Y.)

Okay four children, one adult ,and at least one car seat in the back seat of a Chevy Caviler...I googled the car to see an image of how big it is, either way two or four door model it is not a very big vehicle. I am not sure you could have fit three car seats in the backseat. So even with one car seat in the middle...you are cramming two children and one adult plus a child in on either side of a car seat in the back of a small sedan.

This was a bad idea on all fronts even to run to the corner store a couple of blocks away much less to get on a freeway.

However...we do not know all the circumstances that lead to them all being in the car on the freeway at that moment...a lot of bad decisions were made, yes yes and YES.

I hope it will open other people's eyes as to the horrible what can happen if you do decide "just this one time" it will be okay.

My heart goes out to the driver that rear ended them...he was in the wrong place at the wrong time as well...he is in my prayers.

Obviously this was not in CA because in CA the carseat thing would come into play. They were in a vehicle on a public roadway - that calls for a carseat!

In CA, if you are caught sleeping it off on the side of the road, but still have the keys in the car (even if they are in your pocket or laying on the seat) you are still charged with DUI. The only way not to be is to lock the keys in the trunk before you nod off.

So, yeah, in CA the car seats would be a big deal!

This is so tragic. I am so sorry for those children and their family!

NO EXCUSE for kids not being in car seat. Yes it was an accident, yes I am sure she is sorry for it and it should be held against her! Punishment is not the issue, but responsibility is! If she didnt have seats for the kids she should not have had the kids in the car. Who's to say that those seats wouldnt have saved those childrens lives. We will never know though will we because they were not appropriatly restrained

Very sad. Every day children die because the adults responsible for them are negligent. It's so sad that the kids are usually the ones who pay the ultimate price!