3 Teens Killed in Speeding Challenger
It is hard for me to believe this is your conclusion, So if a 6 yo finds his dads gun and kills a friend with it, it's not his dads fault? This is a whole different ball of wax, of course there should be some responsibility and accountability on the parents part to secure the weapon from any child. The 6 yo used bad judgement? At 6 I doubt the child even knows the meaning of the word. At 16 this boy didn't have the knowledge or the tools to know of the possible outcome of his poor judgement. He should have, at 16 I certainly knew about the dangers of driving, did that stop me from doing some risky things, NO, bad judgement on my part. I know the parents regret the decision to buy him this for his 16th birthday, but that won't change the outcome at this point. Why did he have the keys to it anyway? he couldn't legally drive without an adult in the car.
I agree, at 16 I made some bad judgement calls myself, hence my conclusion. The fact of the matter is he could have wound up the same way in a 4 cylinder Focus, my wife has one and it will easily do 100 plus.
I have 3 kids, all girls, the oldest was not allowed to get a license because she exhibited very poor judgement and decision making even though we taught her different. My second oldest was the same way, she didn't get a license until she got old enough to do it for herself, she speeds, texts while driving etc and see's no harm in it and she is 21 now, if she wrecks should I be held accountable, NO, is it the cars fault NO. My 3rd now just a few days shy of 16 may not get hers either if she don't figure it out soon, she won't take responsibility for any mistake she makes, it's always someone else's fault. This may seem harsh, but we have decided as parents to make that decision based on our observance.
The bottom line is we can teach our children the proper way to do things, but if they decide to make a bad judgement call there is nothing we as parents can do to stop it if we are not there, nor should we be held accountable.
Edit: I will add that if the parents flipped the kid the keys and said be careful knowing full well that he didn't have a licensed driver with him and that he had more than one friend with him, then there should be some accountability.
Maybe the parents based their decision on what they observed. He could have been an A student who excelled in everything he did and exhibited a high level of responsibility which gave them the thought that he could handle it. I dunno. I know some young people in my area that are very responsible, they work, drive safely, never in any trouble and excel in school. Could they at any moment make a bad decision, absolutely.
I'm not saying everybody else is wrong and I'm right or vice versa, it's just the stark reality of life that some try to logic away.