9-year-old boy orphaned in crash that kills entire family

A 9-year-old boy is recovering after his entire immediate family, including his pregnant mother, was killed in a car crash in California.

Relatives confirmed that 11-year-old Irving Miranda, 5-year-old Jose Miranda, 4-year-old Stephanie Miranda, 30-year-old Luis Miranda and 31-year-old Vivian Rodriguez all died in the collision at Ham Lane and Vine Street near Lodi Memorial Hospital.

A driver who witnesses have said might be responsible for the crash was in surgery, police said.

"All I saw was him flying down Ham Lane, flying around a car in the wrong lane and (he) was on the phone, and I told my parents when I got to their house, there will be a major accident before he reaches Kettleman Lane," Andrews said. "He was at least 100 miles per hour."

Westley Ruyle also was in the area and spotted the same vehicle just before the crash.
"The next thing we know, this gray Tahoe went flying by us at a high rate of speed, possibly close to 100 miles per hour -- maybe more," Ruyle said. "He almost hit a few vehicles on his travels. Before I got to Tokay, next thing I know, I see a huge dust cloud."

Joseph Beer - Fatal Car Accident that Killed Four Teens

A Queens teenager seemed dazed in October as he wandered through the aftermath of a deadly car crash that "looked like someone had taken a stick to a piñata," a state trooper testified Wednesday.

"There was debris everywhere. And body parts. Blood all over the place," said State Trooper Eduardo Arias.

Yet Arias said Joseph Beer, the driver of the car, kept asking, "Are my friends OK?"
Although Beer seemed confused when he asked about his friends, Arias said he was lucid when answering questions about his name, birth date and other facts.

When he brought Beer into an ambulance, the trooper said, he smelled marijuana.
"I asked him if he smoked weed prior to the incident," Arias told prosecutor Michael Bushwack. "He gave me a blank stare. Then I asked again and he said 'Yes.' "

Beer, who now faces aggravated vehicular manslaughter charges in the deaths of his four friends on the Southern State Parkway on Oct. 8, 2012.

Prosecutors have said Beer was high on marijuana and driving more than 110 mph when he lost control of his Subaru Impreza and slammed into trees off the parkway between exits 18 and 17 in Lakeview.
The force of the impact split the sedan in two and the passengers -- Darian Ramnarine, Christopher Khan and Peter Kanhai, all 18, and Neal Rajapa, 17, all from Queens -- were ejected. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Beer, 18, of South Richmond Hill, Queens, wasn't seriously hurt. He is being held without bail. If convicted of the top charge against him, he will face up to 25 years in prison.

At one point, Greenberg showed Beer photos of the accident scene. The teen slumped over as he looked at them, his hand on his forehead.

Airbag Injuries to children

Evidence from the United States suggests that passenger air- bags are associated with an increased risk of death in children. Passenger airbags in vehicles have been associated with fatal and non-fatal injuries in children of all ages. Two scenarios are thought to contribute to these injuries: infants in rear facing child seats strapped into the passenger seat may sustain severe head and neck injuries caused by the deployment of the bag and forward facing children who are unbelted (or improperly belted) can have their heads in the deployment area of the bag, once again causing severe head injuries.

Graham presented data from the US that suggest that passenger airbags are not only associated with cases of child fatalities, but also that the protective effects of the bags in terms of lives saved is outweighed by the lives lost. However, for each of the child lives lost by passenger airbags in the USA, 5–10 adults are saved: this figure is 75 lives saved to one life lost for driver’s side airbags.

In the USA, about one third of children traveling in cars do so in the front seat; this figure is less than 15% in Europe (this may be explained by legislation that has only recently been repealed, prohibiting children from traveling in front seats in several European countries). The rear seats are known to be safer than front seats for passengers of any age, and there is now evidence from the US that the presence of a passenger airbag is enough to make parents seat their children in the rear, to protect them from airbag associated injury. Thinking may be changing: this can only have a beneficial effect on child injuries.

George Washington Bridge fatal car accident snarls morning commute

A 32-year-old Manhattan woman was killed in a single-car wreck Tuesday morning after she lost control of her minivan on the George Washington Bridge, authorities said.

Patricia Salcedo's Toyota van flipped several times and landed on its roof on the New York side of the bridge's upper level about 4 a.m., authorities said.

She was pronounced dead on the scene. There were no other injuries reported, a Port Authority spokesman said.

The crash prompted the temporary shutdown of the upper level's outbound lanes, causing a nightmarish early morning commute for motorists heading to New Jersey.

The lanes were reopened about 7:30 a.m., authorities said.

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