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2 Teenagers Killed in Accident

3K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  KoreanBeefcake 
#1 ·
http://www.tampatribune.com/FloridaMetro/MGBNQE99V2E.html

"Driving Lesson Ends With 2 Deaths
By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN ebrown@tampatrib.com
Published: Dec 18, 2004

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Two brothers died blocks from home Thursday night when one lost control of their father's Acura and slammed the car into a tree in the Countryway subdivision.

The vehicle's passenger side hit the tree with such force that the car nearly wrapped around it. Officials estimated the Acura was going at least 60 mph. The posted speed limit on the residential street is 30 mph.

Family members said driver Danny Duong, 16, was teaching his older brother, Tony Duong, 18, how to drive shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday.

Tony Duong planned to take the written test for his driver's license the next day, his father, Binh Duong, said Friday.

``I just know he was teaching his older brother how to drive. He's very careful,'' Binh Duong said of the younger teen.

Hillsborough County sheriff's investigators said Danny Duong had a learner's permit, which required a licensed driver at least 21 years old be in the car when he was driving. He was speeding southbound on Country Hollow Drive when the car slid sideways on a curve and hit the tree, investigators said.

Deputies cited Danny Duong on two driving violations three months ago. On Sept. 1, a deputy stopped him on Montague Street and wrote a ticket for passing in a curve and for violating restrictions of his learner's permit.

Thursday's crash happened about 50 feet north of Whispering Hollow Drive.

The brothers lived in the Duong family's house a few blocks away, at 11819 Branch Mooring Drive, where they shared a room with bunk beds. A Bruce Lee poster hangs on one wall.

The Duongs, a Chinese and Vietnamese family, planned to move into a new house on Old Memorial Highway this weekend. They moved to Tampa about five years ago from Houston.

Binh Duong said the brothers spent Thursday evening cleaning the new house and were going home for a fried- chicken dinner with their siblings, Julie, 19, Jenny, 14, and Johnny, 13.

He said he rushed home after getting a call from his daughter, Julie, who was crying and telling him to come home.

``When I come over there, I saw my sons' car in the accident, and they said they were both dead,'' he said.

Family members said Danny Duong was studious. He dreamed of being a dentist or an eye surgeon. Tony Duong wanted to get a contractor's license. Both were outgoing and enjoyed football, paint ball and hanging out with friends.

To encourage Tony Duong to get his driver's license, his father bought a black 2005 Subaru STi for his son and planned to give it to him next week.

``That's his dream car,'' Julie Duong said. ``My dad just purchased the car to prove it's here, and if you really want it, then you have to get the license.''

On Friday, friends left flowers and a white cross at the crash site. Tire tracks and shards of glass surrounded the tree.

``Our thoughts and prayers are with you guys. We'll never forget,'' one note read.

Officials at Alonso High School, where Danny Duong was a sophomore and Tony Duong a senior, waited until the end of the day Friday to announce the deaths so they would not disrupt final examinations. Grief counselors were available to talk to students.

In a letter to parents, Alonso Principal Sandy Bunkin wrote that students might not have had a chance to talk to counselors because the announcement was late in the day. There is no school the next two weeks.

She asked parents to contact the district for help if their teens appear troubled."

Am I the only one who thinks the father is kind of an idiot? :screwy: I mean, thats horrible that his sons were killed, but buying his 18 year old son an STi to encourage him to get a drivers license?? I really don't think an STi is a wise first car for a parent to buy their kid.

...maybe it's better it happened in his father's Acura than in the STi (because it probably would have happened sooner or later) :sadwave:
 
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#7 ·
VOLFAN said:
"Teaching him how to drive my A$$"....As cold as it sounds I am glad they didnt kill anyone else.
Driving is a priveledge and a responsibility. I don't know what the father was thinking, buying him a 30k car (WAY TOO MUCH of a 1st car for ANYONE)
Teach your kids repsonsibility, folks!
 
#8 · (Edited)
You all are ****ing asses. hey back off people I knew the kid Danny and he went to my school Alonso High. One of the nicest kids ever pretty quiet and would make people laugh. I am sure none of you ever went fast when you shouldn't of. Stop being hypocrites I know you people who drives Wrx's and Sti's dont drive like grandma's. The fact is they died because of a unfortunate mistake. Kelvar saying the dad was a idiot he was just trying to suprise his son, wouldn't you like an Sti for Christmas. Aren't you only 15 or 16 years old and what school you go to?
 
#9 · (Edited)
con40 said:
You all are ****ing asses. hey back off people I knew the kid Danny and he went to my school Alonso High. One of the nicest kids ever pretty quiet and would make people laugh. I am sure none of you ever went fast when you shouldn't of. Stop being hypocrites I know you people who drives Wrx's and Sti's dont drive like grandma's. The fact is they died because of a unfortunate mistake. Kelvar saying the dad was a idiot he was just trying to suprise his son, wouldn't you like an Sti for Christmas. Aren't you only 15 or 16 years old and what school you go to?
You sound like a model of restraint and responsibility yourself. OK, two innocent kids died needlessly, that is tragic. What makes it more tragic is that it was totally avoidable. Read the article again. You had a situation here where:

1. A 16 year old (inexperienced) who doesnt even have his own license, giving his older brother (weird but whatever) driving lessons. Neither of them should have been unsupervised.
2. This same 16 year old is already earning citations and doesnt even have his license yet !
3. Despite all of the above, parents give the OK for the unlicensed inexperienced and already earning citations brother to give the other one lessons...
4. And once the other brother gets his license, dad does the equivalent of handing him a loaded gun, and says with a wink "now dont go shooting anything, OK". A brand new sports car, smart decision there.

Yah dude, we all drive fast, we've all been 16 once, that's why we're here on a WRX forum. I'm alive today because of a little thing known as responsibility (financial and behavioral, mine and my parents) that prevented me from doing stupid stupid stuff like this.

They may be the nicest family ever and not deserving of this sadness, but it was totally avoidable...

my 3cents
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I'm not trying to mock tragedy. It's a horrible accident, but it didn't have to happen. I'm 17, and no, I wouldn't want an STi, because as cool as it would be, it's way too much car for me. I'd probably end up killing myself, and I'd like to live past the age of 18. Hell, even the WRX is a lot of car for a first car, but I've gotten most of the recklessness out of my system with my my brother's Jetta :rotfl:.
 
#15 ·
Please read my post AGAIN before calling me an a$$. I never referred to the STi. I simply regerred to a kid who was doing 60+ in a neighborhood where the posted limit was something like 30mph. As an individual who has experinced firsthand the loss of a close one who was killed by someone driving very similar to the kid in this article I think I am entitled to that opinion. Once again, I am glad no innocent individuals (with the exception of his brother) were killed by his actions.
 
#18 ·
WRX_Wagon said:
You sound like a model of restraint and responsibility yourself. OK, two innocent kids died needlessly, that is tragic. What makes it more tragic is that it was totally avoidable. Read the article again. You had a situation here where:

1. A 16 year old (inexperienced) who doesnt even have his own license, giving his older brother (weird but whatever) driving lessons. Neither of them should have been unsupervised.
2. This same 16 year old is already earning citations and doesnt even have his license yet !
3. Despite all of the above, parents give the OK for the unlicensed inexperienced and already earning citations brother to give the other one lessons...
4. And once the other brother gets his license, dad does the equivalent of handing him a loaded gun, and says with a wink "now dont go shooting anything, OK". A brand new sports car, smart decision there.

Yah dude, we all drive fast, we've all been 16 once, that's why we're here on a WRX forum. I'm alive today because of a little thing known as responsibility (financial and behavioral, mine and my parents) that prevented me from doing stupid stupid stuff like this.

They may be the nicest family ever and not deserving of this sadness, but it was totally avoidable...

my 3cents
+1
 
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