The Pilot News - 6 teens survive spectacular high-speed car accident

Whatever the request, Whitaker obliged by pressing his foot down on the accelerator and the car gained momentum, flying west on County Road 25 North in Knox.
A 16-year-old female riding in the front passenger seat said she had a bad feeling and fastened her seatbelt. The other female riding in the back said she began to beg for the driver to slow down, while someone in back began to shout “Shake and Bake” — a phrase from “Talladega Nights,” starring Will Ferrell. The car continued to speed off into the night — the driver seemingly confident in his ability to entertain his passengers with a high-speed ride through the country.
Jim Sellers of Knox was walking his dog on 700 East when he witnessed the car blow through a stop sign at a high rate of speed and then he heard the crash.
The car had veered off the roadway onto a stretch of land, where it left tell-tale signs of the speed it was traveling branded on the blades of grass. The driver then maneuvered back onto the roadway, still traveling at a speed in excess of 100 mph, according to passengers in the vehicle. At this point, accounts become hazy as some of the passengers do not remember what took place next.
Photographs of the site indicate the driver swerved off the roadway yet again. Only this time, he lost control of the car which began flipping across the field. The car came to rest at approximately 11:30 p.m. 185 feet from the roadway, but not before ejecting one female passenger through the sun roof, a male passenger through the windshield and trapping a front seat female passenger in the car.
Within moments, Whitaker pulled the front seat passenger out from under her seatbelt, which would not open, and got her out of the mangled wreckage which stood as a testament to the dangerously high speeds the vehicle had been traveling. The young man who had been propelled through the windshield began shouting the name of the girl ejected from the sun roof. The boy kept calling her name until he found her. While the kids waited for help, the boy took time to reassure the frightened girl that she would live — focusing on comforting her, despite the nasty head wound and other injuries he had sustained.
Deputy Bret Hansen responded to the call and concluded his investigation of the crash with the following: “Vehicle went through the stop sign and through the grass and back on the roadway and lost control and went sideways for 110 feet and then went off the road and rolled three times and was off the road 185 feet.”
Whitaker said he lost control of the car when a deer crossed in front of him. However, Hansen’s report lists no contributing environmental circumstances.
Whitaker was also tested for alcohol and blew a .00, proving alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
Whitaker was cited for reckless driving and ignoring a stop sign.
Three Starke County ambulances were needed to transport the six teens to Starke Memorial Hospital. Parents arrived to find their children alive, but frightened — some strapped down from head to toe on back boards until injuries to neck and spine could be determined.
The teens received treatment for a variety of injuries: Female ejected through sunroof suffered a broken collar bone, broken rib and multiples bruises and lacerations; female pulled from car received lacerations to face and hands, both requiring stitches, multiples bruises and minor lacerations on arms and legs, swelling to face and forehead, laceration in mouth and mucous membrane and seatbelt burn; male passenger in backseat ejected from car (known injuries) sustained multiple lacerations to face, some requiring stitches; other male backseat passenger, not ejected, (known injuries) received lacerations, including long gash that ran length of forearm; backseat male passenger listed as wearing lap and harness restraint was checked for complaint of pain in neck and released; Eric Whitaker was also checked for complaint of pain in neck.
The mother of one of the backseat male passengers said she knows God was with these kids when the car they were traveling in crashed. “I pray for the kids every time they walk out the door... Nothing I do keeps them safe — it’s all God,” she said. Another mother echoed the same sentiment, “The hand of God was definitely on these kids. I too pray for my children’s safety. And tonight, God answered all our prayers,” she said.
Eric Whitaker expressed remorse to the mother of one of the passengers. She informed Whitaker the accident was not completely his fault that everyone in the car who agreed to travel at such dangerously high speeds were just as responsible as he was. The mother then told Whitaker she hoped they all knew how very lucky they were to be alive.
Vicki Whitaker, mother of the driver, spent a lot of time checking on each of the kids and their parents. Her worry and concern for each of the kids was heartfelt and genuine.
All victims were released from Starke Memorial Hospital early Thursday morning.
Damage from the accident is estimated between $2,501 and $5,000.6 teens survive spectacular high-speed car accident
LEADER STAFF REPORT
KNOX — Six Starke County teens miraculously walked away from the wreckage of a crash site located at County Road 25 North, 1,570 feet from 700 East in Knox after the driver, 18-year-old Eric Whitaker, of Knox, lost control of his 1997 white Pontiac Grand Prix when a joy ride where he pushed the vehicle to speeds in excess of 100 mph went terribly wrong.
On Wednesday, June 18, Whitaker was driving five of his friends, ranging in ages between 15 and 16 years old, back to town when someone in the back seat asked if he could go faster. One account said a passenger asked if the car could go 110 mph.
Whatever the request, Whitaker obliged by pressing his foot down on the accelerator and the car gained momentum, flying west on County Road 25 North in Knox.
A 16-year-old female riding in the front passenger seat said she had a bad feeling and fastened her seatbelt. The other female riding in the back said she began to beg for the driver to slow down, while someone in back began to shout “Shake and Bake” — a phrase from “Talladega Nights,” starring Will Ferrell. The car continued to speed off into the night — the driver seemingly confident in his ability to entertain his passengers with a high-speed ride through the country.
Jim Sellers of Knox was walking his dog on 700 East when he witnessed the car blow through a stop sign at a high rate of speed and then he heard the crash.
The car had veered off the roadway onto a stretch of land, where it left tell-tale signs of the speed it was traveling branded on the blades of grass. The driver then maneuvered back onto the roadway, still traveling at a speed in excess of 100 mph, according to passengers in the vehicle. At this point, accounts become hazy as some of the passengers do not remember what took place next.
Photographs of the site indicate the driver swerved off the roadway yet again. Only this time, he lost control of the car which began flipping across the field. The car came to rest at approximately 11:30 p.m. 185 feet from the roadway, but not before ejecting one female passenger through the sun roof, a male passenger through the windshield and trapping a front seat female passenger in the car.
Within moments, Whitaker pulled the front seat passenger out from under her seatbelt, which would not open, and got her out of the mangled wreckage which stood as a testament to the dangerously high speeds the vehicle had been traveling. The young man who had been propelled through the windshield began shouting the name of the girl ejected from the sun roof. The boy kept calling her name until he found her. While the kids waited for help, the boy took time to reassure the frightened girl that she would live — focusing on comforting her, despite the nasty head wound and other injuries he had sustained.
Deputy Bret Hansen responded to the call and concluded his investigation of the crash with the following: “Vehicle went through the stop sign and through the grass and back on the roadway and lost control and went sideways for 110 feet and then went off the road and rolled three times and was off the road 185 feet.”
Whitaker said he lost control of the car when a deer crossed in front of him. However, Hansen’s report lists no contributing environmental circumstances.
Whitaker was also tested for alcohol and blew a .00, proving alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
Whitaker was cited for reckless driving and ignoring a stop sign.
Three Starke County ambulances were needed to transport the six teens to Starke Memorial Hospital. Parents arrived to find their children alive, but frightened — some strapped down from head to toe on back boards until injuries to neck and spine could be determined.
The teens received treatment for a variety of injuries: Female ejected through sunroof suffered a broken collar bone, broken rib and multiples bruises and lacerations; female pulled from car received lacerations to face and hands, both requiring stitches, multiples bruises and minor lacerations on arms and legs, swelling to face and forehead, laceration in mouth and mucous membrane and seatbelt burn; male passenger in backseat ejected from car (known injuries) sustained multiple lacerations to face, some requiring stitches; other male backseat passenger, not ejected, (known injuries) received lacerations, including long gash that ran length of forearm; backseat male passenger listed as wearing lap and harness restraint was checked for complaint of pain in neck and released; Eric Whitaker was also checked for complaint of pain in neck.
The mother of one of the backseat male passengers said she knows God was with these kids when the car they were traveling in crashed. “I pray for the kids every time they walk out the door... Nothing I do keeps them safe — it’s all God,” she said. Another mother echoed the same sentiment, “The hand of God was definitely on these kids. I too pray for my children’s safety. And tonight, God answered all our prayers,” she said.
Eric Whitaker expressed remorse to the mother of one of the passengers. She informed Whitaker the accident was not completely his fault that everyone in the car who agreed to travel at such dangerously high speeds were just as responsible as he was. The mother then told Whitaker she hoped they all knew how very lucky they were to be alive.
Vicki Whitaker, mother of the driver, spent a lot of time checking on each of the kids and their parents. Her worry and concern for each of the kids was heartfelt and genuine.
All victims were released from Starke Memorial Hospital early Thursday morning.
Damage from the accident is estimated between $2,501 and $5,000.