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" Re: Everybody! #1 a young man is in the hospital, my deepest prayers go to him! #2 his family has no insurance...what a price to pay! As far as the price goes, I hope the family knows now, how important insurance is..( as no one can affod it, including myself, a very small price to pay)! #3 I would like the young driver prosecuted!!! Otherwise the youth in Bloomington/Normal, will take almost killing a child as a slap on the wrist! Enough said! The whole story is very frustrating for myself, I hate to think about those involved! "

" "How dare you insintuate that the mother didn't do her job or the child wasn't raised with boundaries. "

... eh, sounds like that's what the police were insinuating when they charged her. "

" MISSterious ~ obviously you don't have children yet of your own. How dare you insintuate that the mother didn't do her job or the child wasn't raised with boundaries. You know NOTHING of this family; you know NOTHING of how this girl was raised and you know NOTHING about being a parent. Until you've walked a mile in the shoes of a parent who raised their child with love, disclipline, boundaries, rules, consequences, AND STILL got a call from the police or had them go astray, then keep your opinions to yourself. Cont. . . "

" The mother "knew or should of known" her daughter was driving her vehicle,,, that is how McLean County works. Even if you have no clue what is going on you should of known so you can be charged. "

" This is tragic for all involved. Teens don't always think of the conseqences of their actions, or of their mortality. Some will make poor decisions that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Sad but true. I'm sure that all of us didn't/don't always make the best decisions. That is how we learn. Some pay at a higher price, as in this case. I'm sure that all of the mother's involved taught their children to the best of their ability. Kids won't always do what they have been taught...especially when the parent's aren't around. I pray that all involved have a great support system, they need that most now. All parent's can do is, prepare for the worst, pray for the best, and deal with what happens. I hope this young man makes a full recovery, sounds like he has a tough road ahead. "

" Let's see if I have this straight. The young ladies name is being withheld because she is a minor. Yet, the mothers name appears in print, and the daughter was turned over to her. I guess by releasing the mothers name we won't make the connection? Come on, NG, we are a bit smarter than that.
My sympathies are with the young man and his family, also for the girl and her family. We never know whether we are a heartbeat away from something like this. "

" She died at the scene twice and was in a coma for 2 days? That's terrible! "

" ms.patton 32--How do you know that she allowed it??? Isn't it possible that the girl just took the van without her mother knowing about it? Also, how many of us leave our keys in our cars at our own homes? I know I do-- "

" First of all, the article is evasive. Who know why she was charged. If the matter is public record the why did the Pantagraph not report on it? Anyway, until the article is complete, I will withold judgement but at first glace it seems hasty to charge the mother. What if the mother had no knowledge that the girl had the car? I hope this article is update and completed soon. "

" I had the same sort of accident involving my friend in 1982. She died at the scene twice and was in a coma for 2 days and my father didn't get anything against him. I was the one responsible and it was even his car but back then the children took the blame if the blame was deserving to them but now it seems the parents are to blame whether they are around or not. That is why kids are so irresponsible these days because they know their parents are going to get the blame for their stupid mistakes. I know the girl is going to get tickets and such but the mom (unless she was at the scene and condoned the actions of her daughter) then the mom should be left completely out of it. "

" Everyone is focusing on the girl...bashing her and saying that she should be punished. Did anyone notice in a previous article where they mentioned that the boy IS A FRIEND OF HERS?!?!?! This poor girl is dealing with the fact that she may have accidentally injured her friend. He and another boy jumped on the hood of her car! She did NOT intentionally run them down! He has just as much responsibility as she for this tragic accident. What about the other friend that was on the hood?! Anyone blame him? Yet everyone seems to want to tar and feather the poor girl and send all their sympathies to the injured boy.
Question:
If a car runs a red light do you think that driver should sue the car that it crashed into because they were in it's path?!
What is this world coming to? "

" I know this mother and years ago I briefly met the daughter. The mother is a decent woman who provides a great service to this community in her work with the underserved. While I do not know the exact situation with the car, my first thought would be, even if I didn't know the mother, to investigate the circumstances under which the daughter got the car before charging the mother. Working parents cannot be on top of what teenage children do while they are at work, and a 15 year old should be expected to know better than to do something this stupid. (And children of good parents DO do stupid things--I'm sure you all know some who do or did them yourself.) There must be consequences for the daughter; the law will decide the extent. The charge against the parent must be considered in light of specific circumstance, which this article doesn't go into. "

" Tammy writes...

"Why is it when kids get hurt when they are old enough to understand the stupidity of the stunts they are doing can and more then likely cause someone to get hurt/killed they aren't held responsible."

Tammy, from reading this and other posts on here you are not alone in your blind condemnation of kids for being kids. Kids do stupid things. Sometimes they get hurt and or killed. It has happened for all time and will continue to happen. To those who are quick to condemn the mom...do you know what your kids are doing 24/7? Of course you do not. How about working mom's and kids who are home alone? Your comments are sad and rather thoughtless. My heart goes out to all involved. "

" "Okay, let me get this right. Everyone is saying that if the kids are under age and doing bad things, then the parent can be charged. What about all the kids who shot people, rob people, etc. So if these kids are underage, do they go after the parents? I hope this young man will be fine, but this young girl could have taken the car without her mother knowing. Kids sneak out all the time." "

" I don’t know any of the people involved in this case, but I believe these charges are absurd. Two kids horseplay by jumping on a moving vehicle and the driver gets charged with aggravated reckless driving and the mother is charged with reckless endangerment? Where has common sense gone? This was a tragic outcome, but get real…now you’re going to ruin the life of this 15 year old girl and the mom. I could see a ticket for driving without a permit charge obviously, but these charges have no logic or reason. I guess that’s what our legal system has come to. "

" there's not enough information above to explain why mother is charged. I am guessing it is because she knew her daughter took the car, otherwise, she can't be found repsonsible if she didn't know. "

" I also agree with the child endangerment charge. I mean, obviously it's not like the mother told the daughter to be a complete imbecile and drive the van around the parking lot with her punk friends riding along on the hood. Of course one can't really judge for sure what the mother-daughter situation is like in that family without actually knowing them, but this story begs the question: If this girl were properly disciplined by her mother, then this 15 year old KID never would have dreamed of doing something this stupid, right? I understand parents these days want their kids to like them, but it's more important for parents to act as parents, no matter how much their kid hates them for it. It'll be worth it when they grow up and don't turn into society's problem. "

" I do agree with this, but why is she being held accountable and we never hear about the recent wilding phase of Normal having any parents arrested? If they just didn't report it, that's one thing, but it seems like parents in those cases were ignored. What's different here? "

" If the mother knew or should have known that her daughter took the van or they felt there was insufficient supervision to prevent the child from being irresponsible, then the mother can be - was charged with - child endangerment for allowing her daughter to put herself and/or others in a dangerous situation. It's quite appropriate - if the mother had left the keys to a gun cabinet out and the child shot the boy everyone would want the mother held responsible. Same principle. Besides the mother was irrestponsible enough to allow her daughter to operate not just a vehicle, but an UNINSURED vehicle. Who's going to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills that the boy incurs? "

" Parents, beware. I see all to often kids horsing around with falimly vehicles. Jumping on each others hoods and in general horse play while in and on the car, minivan, SUV, what have you. I've seen it go on in parking pots where small children are present. One can call the police but these seemingly clean cut kids will have picked up a sibling or just be on their way long before police can get there. ALL kids will try and get away with something as long as they think they won't get caught. God, please be with the injured boy and allow him to heal. "