Viper Crash on Mulholland Highway near Los Angeles, California

[Vipermann1]

My heart and prayers go out to both the driver and his daughter.

14-year-old girl dies in Mulholland Highway crash | www.theacorn.com | The Acorn

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A 14-year-old girl was killed Sat., Sept. 26 after the car her father was driving collided headon with an SUV near Viewpoint High School in Calabasas.
Jessica Roberts, a freshman at Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Douglas Roberts, Jessica’s father, was headed west on Mulholland Drive around 2 p.m. Saturday when his Dodge Viper veered into the oncoming traffic, said Lt. Scott Chew of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. The sports car collided with a Toyota FJ Cruiser driven by Calabasas resident Blake Wheeler, the sheriff’s report said.
Wheeler was taken to West Hills Hospital with major injuries, but is expected to recover. Douglas Roberts sustained lifethreatening injuries and remains in critical condition at Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center, Chew said.
http://forums.viperclub.org/images/2009-10-01/001p2.jpgChaminade announced the girl’s death on its website Monday.
“The death of a student is always a test of faith for a school community and this death is especially heartbreaking for Jessica’s close friends,” the school said in a statement. “We pray for the repose of Jessica’s soul and we also fervently pray that her father and the other person who was injured will be restored to health. We also pray in a special way for Jessica’s mom, Jodi, whose grief and shock must be overwhelming.”
Jessica graduated from Chaminade’s middle school in June and among her favorite activites was softball.
People close to the girl gathered in the school’s gym Monday morning for prayer and remembrance.
“Jessica Roberts looked at life with passion by asking questions such as, ‘What is our duty in life and how can we live our happiness in such a big world like this one?’ said Brother Adam Becerra. “Jessica was always attentive to people’s needs and brought a smile to everyone who crossed her path.”
Chaminade also posted an assignment Jessica wrote in 7th grade: “My dream would be to . . . know that I had gone through life being a wonderful, loving person who knew right from wrong and who knew love from hate. I grew to know God in many ways. God became my rock and I knew that I had strengthened our relationship for the better.”

 

[ASPIRATIONS]

Very sad for all involved....

 

[slysnake]

What the Hell? Didn't you just post this same thing yesterday and get called on it for being a fake?

 

[SkyBob]

What the Hell? Didn't you just post this same thing yesterday and get called on it for being a fake?

He has a few more details this time.

 

[MTGTS]

This is sad

 

[Cop Magnet]

That *****. Sorry to hear it.
Also sorry for questioning the validity of your earlier post, but as I said, there was nothing about it in the media and it happened almost a week ago. Weird.

 

[Vipermann1]

What the Hell? Didn't you just post this same thing yesterday and get called on it for being a fake?

I did post this a few days ago, then today noticed the thread was deleted.
Perhaps someone complained to the mods it was fake story (or another reason, I am not really sure why). Mods please feel free to comment.

But I would never post something about a Viper crash as a joke. It's a serious matter.
I have been a VCA member a long time.

First, it was just a few rumor which I hear from the Car club guys in Los angeles after our meet, they said a Viper crashed (Some of them thought it was my car and called me). So I posted the thread, but within a day or 2 it was deleted.

But the fact remains, a little girl died. My heart goes out for her dad and their family.
So tragic.

Thanks,
UZY

 

[Vipermann1]

That *****. Sorry to hear it.
Also sorry for questioning the validity of your earlier post, but as I said, there was nothing about it in the media and it happened almost a week ago. Weird.

There is no need to appologise, buddy.

We are all friends here!!!!!

We are a tight community and we support each other!!!!

I used to spend a lot more time on this board, but lately my own family problems have kept me very busy.

Thanks,
UZY

 

[v10viperbox]

What the Hell? Didn't you just post this same thing yesterday and get called on it for being a fake?

I will confirm that this is real as the FJ driver is a family friend. Who as of last time I heard, recovering.

Story as it has been told is the viper owner had picked the car up that day. Overpowered the tires spun into oncoming traffic backwards. Continued to spin and passenger side hit front of the FJ.

I will keep the damage to the drivers and passengers to myself as I don't feel like its something to post. But its true and a regrettable incident.

 

[ViperGTS]

SAD. VERY SAD.

>>>...the viper owner had picked the car up that day...<<<

FIRST DAY? WOW.

Snakes bite fast!

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

So was the father a VCA member or poster here?

 

[slysnake]

Very sad then. Our prayers are with them.

 

[BlackSnake99]

God bless all involved. Can you imagine? Stoked over your new ride, take your daughter out for a ride and wind up killing her?? Jesus, I think of the fun my boys and I have in the Viper...... will be extra careful now.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

God bless all involved. Can you imagine? Stoked over your new ride, take your daughter out for a ride and wind up killing her?? Jesus, I think of the fun my boys and I have in the Viper...... will be extra careful now.

You can be extra careful and extra smart while having extra fun too...

NARRA Online
Welcome to the Premier Racing and Driving School, Skip Barber Racing School
Bondurant Racing School of High Performance Driving

Something every Viper owner (every sports car owner for that matter) should do twice a year.

 

[SNKEBIT]

You can be extra careful and extra smart while having extra fun too...

NARRA Online
Welcome to the Premier Racing and Driving School, Skip Barber Racing School
Bondurant Racing School of High Performance Driving

Something every Viper owner (every sports car owner for that matter) should do twice a year.

I agree Chuck, but they just don't listen........

 

[Slypopsracing]

I thank God every morning that my son (when he sold me the Viper) told me it was potentially easier to destroy than his GSRX 1000 Suzuki. I really didn t believe him but was extra careful. Probably saved my life....

 

[agentf1]

So freaking sad. My prayers go out to all parties involved.

 

[Ricketts]

That's sad. RIP

 

[CitySnake]

God bless all involved. Can you imagine? Stoked over your new ride, take your daughter out for a ride and wind up killing her?? Jesus, I think of the fun my boys and I have in the Viper...... will be extra careful now.

Amen that! Good God, I just can't imagine what the father and family must be feeling. This is beyond tragic. Ughhhh. Give me shivers to think about it.

Driving school is certainly helpful..but how about just driving ridiculously conservative when with your children? I don't know. It's just so painful to even try to consider what that father must be feeling.

Ughhhhh.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Driving school is certainly helpful..but how about just driving ridiculously conservative when with your children?

That is the other option. And with that I sense this thread turning into a "tough love" sort of discussion...or more.

 

[CitySnake]

That is the other option. And with that I sense this thread turning into a "tough love" sort of discussion...or more.

If I didn't make it apparent, I was talking half to myself. I've surely gone too fast with my daughter in the car on occasion. Maybe I should keep a copy of this post on her booster chair?

 

[BlackSnake99]

It's interesting that we have 2 crash threads going on. The other guy was going 100+ mph on the freeway at 1am. That is a tough love thread for me. If there was alcohol involved then remove the love part. This guy, though we don't know the details, sounds like he just lost it. EXTRA conservative with the boys in the car from now on.

 

[Steve-Indy]

The Viper is like no other production car...so, prior experiences in other high powered vehicles just do not fully apply (SADLY). The "disaster stats" have proven this to be true...and will likely continue to prove this point.

By the way...cool weather is upon many of us...so, expect MORE horsepower and LESS traction !!!!

 

[WILDASP]

You can be extra careful and extra smart while having extra fun too...

NARRA Online
Welcome to the Premier Racing and Driving School, Skip Barber Racing School
Bondurant Racing School of High Performance Driving

Something every Viper owner (every sports car owner for that matter) should do twice a year.

I know, Chuck, I know, but all too many newbies just don't listen.....and bad things happen; sometimes really tragic things, as in this instance. The rest of you who have said it are right as well; this is turning into a tough love thread, and maybe it really needs to.

How many times have we seen these words: "...just picked up the car that day...", or "...while demonstrating the car to a friend....", or "....while driving the car home from the dealership", or "....only had the car for a month...". Too many times! Even one time is too many. It always makes me feel sick; I suppose it makes a lot of us feel that way, because it is all so unnecessary, so completely preventable. Someone gets into a Viper, throws common sense, caution, and judgment out the window, and this is what happens. I know I'm preaching to the choir here; we all know that the last place for showing off is behind the wheel of a Viper (or any other ultra-high performance car, for that matter). How many times do things like this have to happen to drive that message home, especially to some newbies?

Not only are incidents like this unbelievably tragic in themselves; fairly or not, they tend to give us all, and the car, a black eye in the sight of the cops, the regulators, the insurers, and the rest of the motoring public. That's an image we neither want nor need! Most of us don't deserve it; at least I hope not; but all it takes to create it is a few who don't get (or don't believe) the word.

With the degree of control we have in this car, we ought to be some of the safest drivers on the road. I think a lot of us, even most of us, are, but somehow, we have to do a better job of educating those who aren't. Time for some tough love among the Viper Nation? I think so.

I'm going to say something now I may get flamed for, and that's OK. This starts with US, all of us. I hope everyone will take this in the spirit in which it's offered, but if not, TOUGH! It starts, with what we post here. Those who post veiled references to street racing, those who post about other reckless/showboating behavior on the street, need to think about the example you are setting. Wrecking a Viper on the street is NOT some "rite of passage" or "badge of honor" nor does it prove how brave or macho you are; what it is, is a badge of driver error, usually caused by "brain fade" or outright bad judgment, and it's not something to be proud of. If you want to act like you are proud of it, think of the example you're setting. Those of you who brag about cutting off someone on the street, or other forms of discourteous driving, need to think about the example you are setting. Those of you who drive that way, need to think about the example you are setting. Yes, I know, I know, some other drivers act like jerks around a Viper, and it's irritating. That does not mean we have to imitate their behavior. We are better than that, or ought to be. A rev and a wave, or a fangs salute, fine. Big, smoky burnout, or more, not so fine. Just remember, if you do it, you are encouraging someone else, maybe with lesser skills (or luck) than you, to do it too. Yes it's fun to play, and push the envelope, and there's a time and place for that (preferably in a controlled environment with appropriate safety precautions). Otherwise a little self-control and caution are called for.

It starts with us. We can't prevent all these incidents; but if what we say and do keeps even one newbie from doing what this guy did, isn't it worth it?

 

[JonB]

Lost Traction. Why? V10VIPERBOX....any idea the year of Viper??

Wrecking a Viper with newbee-exhuberance is all-too-common. HP exceeds skills and judgement. There are anecdotes galore in these pages of wrecked cars with under 1000 miles on them. We have bought many 'organ-donor Vipers' thru the years that were crashed in the first 30 days of ownership. We have bought several with under 50 miles!

Sick-stomach sadness for the family was my first thought.

My second thought is: NEW CAR.....or OLD TIRES? 600 HP can be beastly to a newbee, but even 400HP on rock-hard tires can result in EXACTLY what is described in the sad narrative above.

Your own hands and feet have more total surface area than a Viper's contact patches.

And yet we ask the Viper to do phenominal, grippy things on hard rubber. DONT TRUST OLD TIRES to hold the road even if the tread looks good. Dont replace 1-2 new tires and leave 2-3 old tires. [Used-car sellers do this frequently.]

My confession: When I picked up my first Viper on May 30, 1993, I almost crashed it entering Interstate 5. My past Lotus-Porsche-Vette-Jag skills were thought to be enough. They weren't. I was YEEEE-HAWING my way up the entrance ramp, 2 miles from the dealer and yawed nearly sideways. When my pulse slowed to <100 I decided Id probably need a good driving school, and booked it within a few weeks. [My last driving school was in 1971 at the Vette plant in St Louis. ]

I soon learned that Gen-1 alignment and snow-tire ruts had prompted my scary tail-wag....but the school saved my car and maybe my life since that 1993 lucky save.

GO TO SCHOOL...on GOOD TIRES.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Those who post veiled references to street racing, those who post about other reckless/showboating behavior on the street, need to think about the example you are setting.

Early on I've done some spirited driving but have always been selective. Either there was no traffic or it was a quick jump on it then shut down. I never blew by traffic at 100+ mph, even as a youth. I've done 100+ mph runs but never around traffic.

Since I started tracking ten years ago street action means nothing to me any more.

 

[WILDASP]

Early on I've done some spirited driving but have always been selective. Either there was no traffic or it was a quick jump on it then shut down. I never blew by traffic at 100+ mph, even as a youth. I've done 100+ mph runs but never around traffic.

Since I started tracking ten years ago street action means nothing to me any more.

Chuck, I hear you, and completely agree. I've done some spirited road driving myself (and still do), but like you, I'm selective - I pick the situations very carefully, and then, stay well within the envelope (mine and the car's). I can have all the fun I want exploring the limits on the track, or even on an autocross course; no point in doing anything rash on the street, where there are just too many variables we can't control or anticipate. I never had much of an urge to do anything reckless on the street, and the things I saw in three years as an EMT took care of even that.

By the way, for those of us who don't get to the track as often as we'd like, autocross is a good alternative; it can be a great way to practice some pretty fine car control skills, in a situation where mistakes don't hurt anything but one's ego and a few cones. It's not a substitute for track time, but good practice nevertheless, and fun in its own way. I'm for doing anything in a controlled environment, whether it's driving school, tracking, or autocross, that helps me become a better driver.

 

[Cop Magnet]

You can be extra careful and extra smart while having extra fun too...

NARRA Online
Welcome to the Premier Racing and Driving School, Skip Barber Racing School
Bondurant Racing School of High Performance Driving

Something every Viper owner (every sports car owner for that matter) should do twice a year.

Hard to do before your FIRST day with the car. So wouldn't help here would it?
Taking it easy would be the other option, but even with that the car can be have surprising torque for most drivers. Even drivers of other exotics, and even previous Viper owners.
There are other options, of course, and we have discussed them in other threads. Like gun control, the consensus appears to be the lives lost are a worthwhile trade-off for the freedom that we enjoy. Easy to talk about in the abstract, but doesn't make the loss of an individual like this kid any easier for anyone does it?

 

[1HOTV10]

Very sad. This road is famous for weekend Race Warriors. Cars, Motorcycles and Bicyclists in our area. Not for the faint of heart if you are screwing around.


14-year-old girl dies in Mulholland Highway crash | www.theacorn.com | The Acorn

 

[NI-KA]

There is no amount of consoling that will help this father.
Breaks my heart and stirs all of the natural parental worry that resides in everyone even if it doesn't include a viper !
We have all made bad decisions and immediately felt foolish/stupid/regret but usually we don't have to live with the consequences for the rest of our lives.

Douglas will need alot of support to survive the heartbreak. I pray that if he is married that he and his wife find a way thru this tragedy.

May Jessica's "Memory be Eternal"