NationStates Jolt Archive

Fiery Car Crash Kills Four N.C. Teens



RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Four high school seniors returning from a basketball game died in a fiery crash after their car sped off a highway bridge and plunged 58 feet to the ground below, police said.

Officials estimated the car was going 105 mph to 115 mph before the accident Saturday night.

``The senior class will be devastated,'' said Wakefield High School Principal Stephen G. Takacs. He said grief counselors were called to the school Monday to help students cope with the loss.

It was the second fatal car crash in two years involving students from Wakefield High School, which only opened in 2000. In December 2004, a freshman cheerleader was killed when a car carrying a group of teens spun out of control and hit a tree.


The four seniors killed Saturday night were returning from the school basketball team's victory in a regional championship game in Greenville.


They were on the outskirts of Raleigh and headed onto a bridge over Interstate 440 when the driver apparently lost control and the car hit a concrete barrier, skidded 410 feet and flew over the edge, exploding after it hit the ground below, police said.


Police did not immediately release the teens' identities.


One of the victims was Baker Sterling Wood, 18, according to his pastor, Ron Rowe of Bayleaf Baptist Church. Wood's obituary in Monday editions of The News & Observer of Raleigh described him as ``one of those young men who was quiet, but when he spoke, others listened.''

I knew the people who died in this car crash. Not well, but it's still kind of a odd thing, you know, to see a person alive and well one day and then they're just gone.

I knew the people who died in this car crash. Not well, but it's still kind of a odd thing, you know, to see a person alive and well one day and then they're just gone.
I had a friend in high school who died in a car crash. Alcohol was involved. It's stupid. 90% of the crashes that kill classmates of ours are the result of them doing stupid things. It's sad still.

I knew the people who died in this car crash. Not well, but it's still kind of a odd thing, you know, to see a person alive and well one day and then they're just gone.

My sincere condolences.

I remember my senior year, I lost 6 friends because of stupidity, 2 got alcohol posioning, 2 drowned, 1 got hit by a car, and one shot himself in the head playing russian roulette.

It was a bad year. :(

I've been In A car crash... I didn't die obviously, but it sure did mess my jaw up quite a bit.

I've been In A car crash... I didn't die obviously, but it sure did mess my jaw up quite a bit.
I was in a minor crash (my father was driving), but fortunately there was very little bodily harm done to either of us or the car.

I hate when I hear about things like this. It's really sad. I lost one of my best friends the night before graduation in a stupid car accident. You would think people would see and hear about this sort of thing, and learn to drive a little more carefully. Watching drivers today just makes me want to go and bang my head on a wall. :headbang:

I remember my senior year, I lost 6 friends because of stupidity, 2 got alcohol posioning, 2 drowned, 1 got hit by a car, and one shot himself in the head playing russian roulette.

It was a bad year. :(

That's just awful. And to you, Tweedlesburg, my sincere condolences on this tragic loss. My school lost four teens about four years ago in an accident with a semitrailer.

I've also been in a car crash: had both my legs shattered and was in a wheelchair for six months while they healed, thanks to a freaking dumbass that I knew personally. Someone who had, in fact, been my friend before that. But they were driving drunk, and I found out afterwards that he was actually a huge druggie and hid it. Needless to say I disassociated myself from him after that. And I'm still not up to full strength in my legs...doubt I ever will be again...so much for my potential track career. -_-

I'm always a safe and careful driver myself now. I don't see why one wouldn't be. Speeding never gets you anywhere anyway: they've done numerous tests on speeding vs. nonspeeding, and typically speeding saves a couple moments, if that. And since there are few times where a couple moments matter at all...it's just not worth it. And don't get me started on all the other unsafe driving stuff.

I think the worst part about this is not the deaths seeing as I did not know these guys very well, but that I would feel as if they deserved to die due to their stupidity if it was anyone but someone I knew as in this particular case. Events such as this one truly make you re-evaluate how you think about things.

You have my deepest sympathies.