Despite all the strides that have been made toward educating young drivers about the dangers of drinking and driving it seems that all too often we read news accounts of young passengers or drivers needlessly dying due to drunken driving. A very sad example of this continuing problem is the news that a sixteen year old passenger, Stacey Lynn Crowley from Wellsboro, PA was killed on Route 287 in Pine Township, Lycoming County, PA just south of the Tioga County line.
Police were considering filing charges against a Trout Run man who was driving a pickup truck that crashed late Friday night, killing a Wellsboro High School senior who was riding in the back seat.
Stacey Lynn Crowley, 16, of Woodland Avenue in Wellsboro, died when the pickup truck she was riding in crashed along Route 287 in Lycoming County’s Pine Township. Lycoming County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Lusk pronounced Crowley dead at the scene of the 10:12 p.m. crash in Lycoming County’s Pine Township.
Two other occupants of the 1994 Mazda pickup truck — driver Justin Sherman, 21 and Colin Campbell, 20, both of Trout Run — were listed in fair condition on Saturday at Williamsport General Hospital.
Lycoming County Coroner Chuck Kiessling said it appeared that alcohol was a factor in the crash.
“It seems like it,” Kiessling said. “But I don’t have any numbers yet.”
Kiessling said he would order an autopsy on Crowley at Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown if police file charges of motor vehicle homicide against Sherman.
“I’m expecting charges to be filed,” Kiessling said Saturday afternoon. “I’m waiting to hear from the DA and the state police.”
State Trooper Sean Cooney wrote in a press release that Sherman was driving the Mazda pickup truck south on Route 287 and lost control of the vehicle. It traveled off the east side of the highway and flipped onto its left side, ejecting Crowley and Campbell, who was pinned partially underneath the vehicle, police wrote.
The lesson to be learned by all of us is simple– under no circumstances should you drink and drive!
Thanks for reading,
Jim Reed
NY and PA accident and injury lawyer
jreed@zifflaw.com
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It is a sad reality that the drunk driver often feels they did nothing wrong. My daughter was involved in a drunk driving crash in January 2008; she was fortunate and suffered only cuts and abrasions on her face, two broken leg bones, surgery, permanent pins in her bone, and 3 months of physical therapy, lost wages, and the loss of her car.
The driver was arrested, appeared at a hearing that was in turn cancelled and received only probation.
This is a direct quote from the unlicensed, unbelted, speeding @ 60 mph in a 40 mph zone, driver of that car “we all make mistakes, yes i admit we got in a crash after we went to the bar, yes my bac was at .11, and yes i was over the legal limit, but i didnt feel any thing bc alot of people deal with it differently” and that friends is the reason these crashes continue to happen.
ummm. this is the driver of that car… yes drinking and driving is wrong… i know… and its sad when people die from that. i have learned my lesson to never drinkk and drive again. this woman just wont leave me alone
Billy:
You have GOT to be kidding me. You drive drunk seriously injuring this poor woman’s daughter and you have the nerve to be critical of her for not leaving you alone? Were you expecting a warm hug and easy forgiveness? Did you stop to consider that your drunken act may have ruined her daughter’s life forever? Sorry but just saying you learned your lesson doesn’t necessarily make everything better….
Jim
_______________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
N.Y. & PA Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: jreed@zifflaw.com
Web: http://www.zifflaw.com
Visit the N.Y. Injury Law Blog at: http://www.nyinjurylawblog.com
i feel for the family of stacey crowley my sister was only 18 and had just gave birth 2 weeks before, and was killed in a car accident, it wasnt due to drunk driving but it still hurts just as bad. im sorry for all your loses and the way people are today they need to think before they drive drinking if others are in the car and about the others on the roads. n she id right billy campbell for feeling the way she does!
i cant belive how many kids are killed in a car crash!!!
I am Larenna’s cousin and loosing Lacey was the hardest thing our family had to deal with… losing someone so young who was just starting her life! So we can only imagine what the Crowley family as well as all others are going thru! Lacey’s daughter is now 5 years old and looking more and more like her mama everyday! Which is hard but a blessing it’s kind of like having Lacey again! BUT! I still find myself on Christmas and Birthdays and Thanksgiving walking into my grandmothers house exspecting to see her there year after year and getting heartbroke and dissapointed year after year does that ever go away!? Am I ever going to realize she isn’t going to be there? Am I ever going to stop driving around a block 4 times because I thought I seen her walking!? Only to realize the person looks nothing like her at all!? Why does that happen to me why do I do that!?
Courtney:
My heart goes out to you and your family. Over my 23+ years of practice nothing is more painful than trying to assist families in processing the pain they go through due to the unexpected loss of a loved one. It is NEVER easy to lose a loved one but it seems especially painful when the death is unexpected, senseless and avoidable. The emotions you are feeling are common but that doesn’t make them any easier. When my father died from lung cancer eight years ago, my Dad’s brother told me something very simple but profound that has always stuck with me. He said: “Jim, your Dad’s death is so painful because you were so lucky to have such a great person in your life. You have to be happy for the time you had with him, rather than sad about his loss.”
Hang in there!
Jim
Please don’t get me wrong… I am and will forever be greatful for the times Lacey and I had together, I even treasure our fights! Because I know we will never have another. But, no matter how much I remember and laugh or cry about our shared time, I can’t help but long for what we are missing together. I know it’s natural and normal but it’s never going to leave. That longing will always be here. But, I can’t get past the guilty feeling like when something funny happens I feel guilty for laughing because she would have found it funny too but she’s not here to laugh with me. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help it! I used to be the type of person who always said that nothing like this could happen to my family, when see-ing it on the news or in movies, and I always thought I could deal with walking into a hospital room and see a family member on life support and still hold my feelings in and not break down… but the minute I walked into that room in Arnot Ogden and seen my little cousin Larenna in acoma and then having to do the same thing in Rochester with Latashia I became the person I always said I wouldn’t. At Lacey’s funeral I felt like I wasn’t even there, I could see and hear everything but I only felt numb and that’s pretty much how everyday is for me now numb. And when people say they have a big whole in there hearts thats really not an expression I literally feel like there is a BIG whole in my heart! All this stuff was a lesson I was destined to learn but, one I wish I hadn’t! All my rambling probably doesn’t mean much to you and i’m sorry for running on about my feeling but once I started I couldn’t stop. So thanks for listening!
I certainly understood where you were coming from and I apologize if you took my comments the wrong way. I, too, struggle with missing my Dad and wishing he was still in my life to see my three kids celebrate milestones in their life– he would have been so proud and so supportive. I also understand what you mean about a hole in your heart. I can’t strongly enough recommend grief counseling if you are still struggling in a way that doesn’t seem to be getting any better despite the passage of time. A good counselor can make the difference between night and day in teaching you to cope with your loss– they can’t make the pain go away but they can help you process that pain and learn to more effectively cope with it. My best to you and your family. Hang in there!
Jim