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05/26/2006: "Teenagers Are Stupid ... But Resilient"

Heard one of those stories on the news this morning that, at first blush, could be really, really bad:

"A Nissan with 8 teenagers drove off Mulholland Highway early this morning, plunging two hundred feet to the bottom of a canyon. Two occupants of the car were ejected."

This is you classic train-wreck article - you want to move on, but you just can't not look.

Amazingly, not only did no one die but, as of this writing, most of the kids - aged 13 to 19 - weren't even seriously injured. Apparently, the kids were on their way home to Anaheim from a party in Hollywood when the 19-yr old driver missed a curve on the notoriously dangerous highway - home of the legendary "Dead Man's Curve".

How, exactly, does one fit 8 kids into a little bitty Nissan? Good question - just ask your kids. They'll tell you it's by sticking two of the passengers in the only place left after all the seats are taken. It's called "trunking," and it's common enough that there's a law working it's way through the California Legislature that would make the practice illegal.

There are those things that seem so obvious that you wouldn't need a law, but apparently not. According to the cops at the scene, it's a pretty common practice among teenagers today. The two in the trunk were amazingly lucky, since the trunk popped open during the plunge and they were pitched out. Not only were they not killed, they were the ones that hiked up to the highway and flagged down a passing car for help.

You may want to blame this one on the gas prices, but I'm thinking it's just being stupid ... or young ...