Tessa Walker, 18, from Missouri played a stupid game and she won a stupid prize. Last week, she got into a hot-rod speed car with some friends and paid for that decision with her young life. Some people are calling her a victim. Maybe, but only a victim of her own stupidity. She should have known that she was asking for trouble.
The car was being operated at a high rate of speed because teenagers were in it and that’s what teenagers do apparently. The car flipped, burst into flames and she was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. It’s hard to feel sorry for Walker and other teenagers (though she was actually a legal adult) who get into dangerous cars.
By all accounts, Walker was an accomplished, intelligent person. Why, then, would she make such a reckless decision? Surely she knew that she was asking for trouble and she went ahead and got in anyway. I actually have no sympathy for her. She pretty much asked for it and them got it big time.
If anything, this should serve as a lesson: don’t get into a dangerous car with friends. In my opinion, with friends like that, Walker didn’t need enemies. True friends would have respected her and what happened could have easily been prevented. A respectful friend would have driven responsibly.
While it is true that the rest of the story is not publicly known, the driver is always the one responsible for the safe operation of a vehicle. It is clear to me that the driver didn’t care about anyone’s life, including his or her own, at least in my opinion. That person should suffer legal consequences.
Look, sometimes smart people make stupid decisions and that appears to be the case here. In death, maybe Walker can serve a purpose: she has shown how dangerous it can be to get into a vehicle operated by a teenager, especially when it’s a teenager operating a car known for its dangerous high speeds. Irresponsible teenager plus fancy, fast car almost always equals death for someone.
I’m not going to go so far to say that Walker deserved to die, but surely she knew that something like this could potentially happen. I would never get into any vehicle operated by a teenager and the fact that she paid for that choice with her life is unfortunate, but Darwin was definitely out there when that car crashed.