I just read the many posts involving this terrible accident. First, I have to say that I'm shocked at many of the comments. The harsh criticism that has been leveled against those two teens is clearly representative of a high level of ignorance. I spoke with one of the responding officers. He stated that there was insufficient evidence at the scene to reconstruct the accident. Therefore, the two individuals involved are the only ones who know, or will ever know, what happened. Those of you who feel the need to speculate and cast judgment on those kids should be ashamed of yourselves. Second, I have no doubt that the accident could have been avoided by a safer placement of the barricade. I'm not merely speculating here, but am speaking from personal experience. I just happen to have been driving south on 140 earlier in the day on the date the accident occurred. I am not from this area and it was only the second time I had ever been on that stretch of road. I was coming from Clinton and had seen all of the barricades in town, but as I was driving out of town and was past the construction zone, it never occurred to me that once I reached a rural stretch of highway and a 55 mph zone, I would encounter yet another barricade placed in my lane of travel. There was no warning sign or any notice to remain slowed for a construction zone. The final barricade which caused the accident is placed in a "blind spot" in a 55 mph zone. I do not drive a vehicle capable of rapid acceleration, but as I crested the hill just before the barricade, I had to slam on my brakes. It was necessary for me to come to a complete stop to avoid an accident at that location because a large truck was making a u-turn, blocking the entire road at barricade. I attributed my ability to avoid an accident to the fact that I have been driving for over 20 years, and I was driving a new vehicle with an excellent braking and traction control system (a luxury most teenagers simply don't have). As I was sitting there waiting for my heart rate to return to normal, my immediate thought was that I was lucky, but that someone else would likely not be so fortunate. As soon as I heard about the accident involving the two teens and learned of the location, I felt terrible for not making an attempt to contact the construction company or town hall to question the placement of that barricade. I know I'm not the only one who recognized the danger it posed but failed to voice my concern. Instead of wasting our time getting up on a soap box to criticize a young, inexperienced driver or speculating about seatbelts, maybe the lesson we should learn from this incident is that we all need to be more proactive to help remedy a dangerous condition when we see one???

In reviewing Phil's insightful comments it occured to me that someone should immediately notify the local synagogue that their savior has arrived. It is only absent flaw that one could possibly attain such eminence. I suggest Phil take his sandals off and wash his feet of the shards of glass that no doubt fell upon them when he heaved his many stones. I speak for Kalie's entire family when I say that we are grateful she is alive to defend herself against the unintelligent and brusque rantings of a self-rightous fool. I hope you pinch your finger the next time you click your seatbelt into place Phil.

Hey Hurdle girl is a good friend of mine and a person that I know for a fact is not dishonest. If she says the barricades came out of know where and an ACCIDENT!! occured then this something that they will learn from but users like Phil need to take a step back and put themselves in these teens shoes.I am sure phil was not the perfect driver and he has no right to call my friend an idiot because how would you feel if you were in an ACCIDENT!! and a person you did not know on the internet sat back and called you and idiot I am sure that would not make you feel great. Think before you speak Phil and any other user who wants to trash my friend. OH and Kalie get well soon!!

yes. they were VERY lucky. when nate's dad was cleaning up parts and stuff from the side of the road, the barricades were being moved closer together, so you practically have to stop to get through them. don't you think that they should have moved them BEFORE something like this happened to my brother and kalie? i guess it does take a horrible accident to happen in order for people to change something that should have been changed before. There is also something more to the accident that nobody knows. on nathan's sun visor thing, he had a guardian angel clipped onto it. it was still there when the car was brought to our house today. don't you think that it was a miracle they survived? i do. and i think that that guardian angel had a lot to do with it..... and yes, again, seatbelts save lives. but this time, if nathan were to have his seatbelt on, he would have died. i wouldn't have my big brother anymore. i know for a fact that i'm going to keep wearing my seatbelt, but i'm glad that nathan didn't then. i still have my brother to be there for me.

It's good that you are both OK. I suggest, however, that you kids take another drive South through Clinton: the speed limit going South past DeLongs is 25 miles per hour over the tracks, 25 up the hill, and 25 until a vehicle is well over the crest of the hill.
In plain sight of the barricades, it THEN increases to 55 miles per hour. If you were going over 25 when you first saw the barricades, you were SPEEDING!

Oh, and please wear your seatbelts at all times, you probably will never be that lucky again for the rest of your life.

Let's try and clear this up a tish bit.

Some of the comments posted with stories about what had happened in the accident- aren't all correct. Whoever wrote the actual article didn't do that swell of a job either. So I want to try and clear things up.

Here's what happened...

I'm the 16 yr old female involved in that roll over accident out on 140, my name is Kalie and I can tell you right now speeding--not much of a factor at all. Yeah, sure, someone can have a lead foot once in a while, to be honest who hasn't? No matter what your age, no one is perfect, and this wasn't a case of lead foot. We were driving safe and I made sure of it. We may be teens but that doesn't mean we’re ignorant. We were on our way out of town past DeLongs, if I recall correctly that's south--not north like it was written. We had basically just got out of town when we came over a hill to a horrible surprise.. barricades. I thought it was unbelievable how there were no warning signs, or no flashing lights to warn us of what was up ahead. We weren't going more than the speed limit, if we even got fast enough to go the speed limit. I can guarantee that, I was there & I remember it all. We got to the barricades and managed to maneuver around them, but someone thought it would be a bright idea to have loose gravel around the barricades.. in a 55mph zone no less. We slid on the gravel until we came to a mailbox and a culvert. This is when the spinning and rolling of the vehicle took place. I was ejected first and saw the car continue to roll and luckily pass by Nate. The first thing I did was run to him to see if he was, well, alive; and thank-whatever-God that you may believe in- he was still alive! No, we were not wearing our seatbelts, and I know that's irresponsible on our part. That day was the first day since August, when I got my license, that I hadn't worn a seatbelt. When I got into the Neon before we left I just had a feeling 'maybe not this time'. I believe that 'feeling' helped us greatly. The roof of the Neon on the drivers side was completely smashed in. If he had been wearing his seatbelt, he may have been stuck inside his car.. how lucky would he be then?

Try to keep an open mind and consider this, yes seatbelts may help save lives- but maybe not depending on the situation, and you'll never know until it's already happened.

I consider the both of us very lucky to have made it out with such minor injures. A few stitches for the both of us, road rash, broken teeth, and a small fracture on my wrist. Nate and I are both home and recovering fine.

Thank you to all our friends that have been so supportive, it's greatly appreciated!

"Phil" I'm not quite sure who you are calling idiots but in this case you are the idiot. Nate ate supper at our house on Tuesday evening and if he would of had he seatbelt on he would NOT HAVE been here to eat supper with us. The roof on the drivers side of the car is completely crushed so before you go calling people idiots you should be well aware of the condition of the car. So in this case I would have to say that; I'm glad that Nate was NOT wearing his so we can still enjoy his smile and his company.

my name is stevie and im nates ex-girlfriend. I still care a-lot i mean a-lot about Nate. Nate has a lead foot as most of us know. Ive told him time upon time he was going to get into an accident and i warned him one last time and it happened. Me and mom went to go and get him tonite so he could eat over, it was really hard to sit across the table and not cry b.c i know that he is my ex and i didnt want anything to happen to him. the night that the accident happened me and my mom were sittin down to eat and we hear sirens and stuff. we get up and go outside and see them go out of town. i wanted to go see who it was but im thankful i didnt b.c i would of broke down right there. i never thought i would have a phone call come in at 10:21pm saying did you hear what happened to nate? i didnt hear anything b4 then. i was so worried i didnt know what to do. Im really happy hes ok. If he reads this i want him to know i love him so much and cant wait till he gets better.

It comes down to this, WEAR YOUR SEATBELT... you never know when the circumstances will be just so and it could happen to you. I wasn't wearing a seatbelt during a rollover accident and have lifelong injuries because of it... please wear your seatbelts and be safe.

That was my step brother that was in the accident, and my friend's sister. Yes, Nate was speeding, and he knows it. I'm positive that he regrets doing it, and he knows that it was his fault. About the seatbelt saving lives thing, most of the time they do, but if Nathan had his seatbelt on, he would have been killed because the roof on the drivers side of the car was almost all the way down to the floor. Kalie fractured her wrist because Nate was rolling with the car and he must have landed on her before being ejected. He was ejected out of the car, as it said, but Kalie was still in the car. Kalie has a bruise along her neck and had glass in her head from the window. Most of the damage on her was on the right side of her face. She also has a few chipped teeth. Nate has bad road rash on his right side, back, and face. On his head, he had a 7in long gash on his head that was stitched up. He also had many other cuts on his head from the glass. Before our family knew that they had been in an accident, I was talking to my friend on the phone. She said that cop cars were speeding past their house. A few minutes after that, we learned that Nathan and Kalie were in an accident. My sisters and I were crying harder than we ever had before. I called my friend back, and she said that a helicopter was flying over their house. You can see how this upset us even more. We were all very relieved to find out that they were going to make it. Both of them are very, very lucky to be alive. We are all very greatful that they made it.

As usual it takes something "bad" to happen to get the attention of the public. EVERYONE from the Clinton area should have been well aware of the upcoming construction. It is very unfortunate that accidents must happen, but given the circumstances this one very well could have been avoided.

Using hindsiight as 20/20 and the location of this accident, I myself can see how easy this accident happened. Almost all traffic, once clearing the most southern set of tracks, has accelerated to 50mph plus by the time they hit the top of the hill and that is not even half the distance the road blocks set up for the construction.

Case in point lets ALL slow down as speed seems to be the main factor of this accident.

i totally agree with mark thank you. seeing this whole thing was just terrible and i am now even more of a firm beleiver in that seatbelts save lives...

these barriers were in plain site for one and second it was daylight when this happen so they were very visible,and all lights were flashing when it was dark and yes they are reflective on both sides,i dont know where everyone else was but i read about the construction starting two weeks ago.

sbm_citizen wrote:
" though nothing in the article indicated that they would have been better off wearing them."
Well, sbm, he was found lying in the middle of the road and she was found in the ditch. That sounds like a little bit more than "nothing".
Seat belts save lives, and they also keep you from flying around outside of the car in a wreck.

First, I am glad both people are okay. There was no speculation or agenda on my part (math can't lie). I am familiar with Clinton and hwy 140 though not with the current construction project. Speaking for myself, I find that I am often accelerating to highway speed while still within town limits though I agree it would be more difficult than usual southbound on 140 due to the railroad tracks and small rise as one leaves town. What I do find interesting is the complaints about barricades in the roadway. We seem (myself included) to turn our brains off when we are on modern highways precisely because they are so safe. Defensive driving ("expect the unexpected" whether it be deer darting across the road or construction barriers where one does not expect) and a healthy respect for speed would have prevented this accident. I hope it is a lesson learned for these young folks.

flint - I'm not sure what the point of your speculation is because it is just that and if you are familiar with the area in question you would know that if indeed this car was going 70+mph then clearly they were well south of town because no one driving through Clinton would go 70 through the railroad tracks on the edge of town. If the barricade is that far south of town then it clearly supports previous posts regarding the unsafe manner in which these barricades were put up. No one disputes that these kids have learned a hard lesson about seat belts - though nothing in the article indicated that they would have been better off wearing them. You are correct that speed was likely a factor and could have been a fatal one, but throwing a large obstacle in the middle of the highway and acting surprised when someone - particularly a young driver - hits it just plain dumb. We are very fortunate that more accidents didn't happen last night as people came upon these barriers unprepared - there is no warning that they are coming or that the road is closed, the barricades are the first notice of that fact. Hopefully in light of this accident the word will get out and people will be on the look out for suddenly appearring barricades.

First off, the driver made two critical errors: not wearing a seat belt and driving around barricades at or above highway speeds. He and his passenger are very lucky to be alive. From basic physics it is unlikely the driver was observing the posted limit. The clue is in the second distance mentioned in the article, "110 feet before rolling over several times." Assuming a very generous (for the driver) coefficient of friction = 0.5 and a velocity of 30 mph at the point of roll-over, then working backwards the velocity at the point of impact with the culvert was 70 mph. That is the minimum velocity at which the driver could have been. This also assumes (rather generously in some sense) that the driver did not brake while on the gravel (for all of 1.3 seconds) or beforehand (i.e. slowing down when seeing the construction signs and barriers from a distance). If he had braked at all, his speed would have been somewhere upwards of 70 mph.

sbm - I am as surprised as you that such barriers would go up with no warnings posted in advance, ie, half mile to the blockade, qtr mile to the blockade, slow speed ahead, etc.. Barriers were even placed on BC Townline Rd and Carvers Rock Rd in such a fashion that as you turn onto those roads you're immediately upon them. They read "Road Closed" with nothing for miles beyond them; no orange cones, no construction equipment. Nothing.

I have not driven south of town on 140 since the barriers went up but how far out of town are they if a car could reach hwy speeds leaving town before coming up on the barriers? I understand giving plenty of notice for those travelling northbound but if you are south of town/the construction what reason would there be to expect a barrier in the road?!?!? As for people continuing to drive normal speeds after the accident, as I said I had no clue coming home last night that they would be up, I can't imagine I was the only one unprepared for an obstacle in the middle of the road.

From my firsthand account I understand the car was traveling southbound on Hwy 140, leaving Clinton, in a 55 MPH zone. Barriers were placed in both lanes, staggered, with signage (visible Northbound) saying "Road Closed - Open to Business'".
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To my knowledge there were no reflective markings on the southbound side of the barriers and no caution lights flashing. Add to this the gloomy weather conditions and I can see where the barriers came upon the kids abruptly.
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Now...I can understand the staggered barriers if the road is indeed closed, but who in their right mind finds it a good idea place large obstacles in a vehicles path in a 55MPH zone, with inadequate marking, and announce "Road Closed but Really Open"?
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The answer would be a moron.

I under the limits on the routes here in clinton but I do have to make a correction on the way they were traveling,they were heading south not north. Ppl don't realize how many ppl we see speeding around them baracades. Even after the accident we still seen many more being crazy going around them baracades at a high rate of speed. My heart went out to these 2 teens. We seen the whole thing happen and when your speeding you will lose it on the loose gravel. After the railroad tracks heading south of Clinton there are no bad road spots. Yes there are baracades but it is a warning of the road conditions. Where this accident happened was right onfront of our house. Many accidents happen here even with no baracades. Ppl speeding is a major cause. We were attending these teens while waiting for Emergency crew.I knew that gal would be ok but was worried about the boy. I'm glad to hear he is in better condition today. Ppl need to stop speeding around these baracades.They are close together for a reason. TO AVOID ACCIDENTS LIKE THIS. SLOW DOWN PLEASE. There are semi's that are leaving from company on other side and residents leaving or coming from home next to baracades. So please learn from this that you should not speed to beat another car around them baracades b/c the fate can be much worse. I hope these teens get better.

Given the limited routes into Clinton it amazes me that for the second year in a row we again have one of the major arteries into town closed for construction! I understand that the sewer work and this road work are different projects blah blah blah but after the half#$#ed paving job done last year which left the roads in MISERABLE condition this spring it'll be a miracle if we don't have more accidents like this. People have been swerving all over the road to avoid the sink holes for the past few months now go and add very narrow barriers to the mix - what did they expect to happen? Personally I will take Hwy X to avoid the construction but coming home last night I had no clue there were going to be barriers up and let me tell you they were not easy to manuever. I hope these kids come out of this okay but before you start judging their driving (other than seatbelts which shouldn't even be an option)you really should understand the condition of the roads and the suddeness of the barriers - there was nothing when I left for work yesterday and nearly blocked roads when I came home.