Teen killed after picking up first car, hit by wrong-way driver on I-5

[hawk220]

the saddest story I've seen in the news in years. Think before you drink and drive.






Teen killed after picking up first car, hit by wrong-way driver on I-5

By Michael Ko and Cal Blethen
Seattle Times staff reporters
   
Three weeks from her 18th birthday, Jessica Ketzenberg celebrated with her father by driving to a Tacoma-area dealership Monday evening to buy a red 1992 Toyota Camry, her very first car.

She didn't make it home.

A few hours later, about midnight yesterday, the young Kent woman died after her car was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 5, just south of Highway 12 near the Thurston-Lewis county line.

Timothy Ketzenberg, 43, who was in his pickup directly in front of his daughter, swerved to avoid the oncoming driver and witnessed the accident in his rearview mirror. They had been heading to his home in Longview.

The wrong-way driver, Tashina R. Bumgarner, 21, of Oakville, Grays Harbor County, also died in the crash. State Patrol investigators said they found beer bottles in her car and think she had been drinking.

A 31-year-old passenger in Bumgarner's car, Mark Pannkuk, of Olympia, was at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia yesterday with serious injuries.

Both drivers and Pannkuk were wearing seat belts.

Bumgarner was driving her 1989 Ford Probe "well above the speed limit" on northbound I-5, said State Patrol spokesman Johnny Alexander.

Just before midnight, Bumgarner rear-ended a northbound 1990 Toyota Camry, which was driven by a 45-year-old Kelso woman, and forced it off the road, Alexander said. That woman was uninjured.

Bumgarner then crossed the grass median strip approximately half a mile south of exit 88, east of Rochester, into the southbound lanes. Bumgarner drove about one-fifth mile before the accident, Alexander said.

Timothy Ketzenberg ran to his daughter's mangled car. "He tried to get her out," said his cousin, Dena Engle. "He said he grabbed her hand, he felt a light pulse and that was it. The firefighters came and had to pull him away."

Jessica Ketzenberg's mother, still in her slippers, showed up about an hour and 45 minutes later, said Steve Gleason, 39, of Seattle, who witnessed the crash and stopped to help.

People "were holding on to her so she couldn't get too traumatized," Gleason said.

"The car behind, one of the kids (who was a part-time medic) tried to help save (Jessica). But she was jammed in so bad, and losing blood, there was no way."

Family members cried and consoled each other yesterday at Tim Ketzenberg's home.

Engle said Jessica Ketzenberg was "always shy at first, but you hang out and then she'd get to know you and she'd open up and make life fun."

For example, Engle recalled their frequent trips to the Puyallup Fair with girlfriends and relatives: "We'd be shopping, checking out guys. She'd make things fun when you were with her, looking at things through her eyes."

Engle said Jessica Ketzenberg was attending an alternative school in South King County and "loved babies"; she often baby-sat children of friends and neighbors.

The family has an annual reunion every summer at Bonney Lake. This year's is planned for August, and it will be tough, Engle said.

Investigators think Bumgarner and Pannkuk met sometime Monday night at the Oasis Bar and Grill in Centralia and left together, Alexander said. The two were thought to be headed to a mini-mart just off the freeway in Grand Mound, Thurston County, where Pannkuk wanted to be dropped off.

Bumgarner was charged with theft and alcohol possession two years ago in Olympia, before she turned 21, according to court records. The charges were dismissed last fall after she paid a fine and complied with her probation.

[Mickey1992]

So sad.  May the victim rest in peace.  May the drunk driver rot in hell.

[Fishu]

Must be/been real hard for her father to watch her daughter go away like that

[Wanker]

Drunk driving penalties are way too lenient in this country. My own brother-in-law has had 5 DWI's and the most he's ever gotten for punishment is 5 days in a workhouse.

We need to throw the drunk drivers in the hooskow for a significant amount of time on the FIRST offense, if that what it takes to get people to sober up before they drive.

[hblair]

As the father of an 11 year old daughter, reading something like that makes me sick. I don't know if I could handle it. The word devastation wouldn't even begin to describe it.

[gofaster]

Accident avoidance is a skill that very few young drivers are taught.  Yes, the drunk driver was at fault, but I'm guessing the daughter was so excited about the new car that she may not have had her head on a swivel nor left enough distance between herself and her dad to react to unseen objects.

I've seen a lot of drivers be left hung out to dry by the car in front of them.  For example:

4-lane highway - 2 lanes going your way, 2 lanes going the opposite way.  You're in the left lane following a truck or van, toodling along at a safe speed.  Meanwhile, in front of that van is a vehicle that's completely stopped waiting to turn left.  The van drives right up to the back of the stopped vehicle, then changes lanes at the last second, leaving you to scream into the back of the stopped vehicle that you didn't see because of the van.

Vehicle ahead of you is turning left into a parking lot.  You're behind it and you want to follow it into the parking lot, too.  There's a pause in the oncoming traffic so the vehicle in front of you turns across the traffic into the ramp of the parking lot.  You proceed to turn left, too, thinking the car ahead of you will pull on in.  Instead, the car ahead of you stops at the ramp and scans for open parking spaces instead of driving forward, leaving you broadside to oncoming traffic.

Not saying that this is relevant to the accident, but I figured its worth pointing out.

[Ripsnort]

What about a "3 strikes your out" policy on drunk driving? you get caught 3 times, you do life in prison...too extreme? Or not enough prison space for the drunks in this country?

[hawk220]

we become rather numb to all the horrible things that we see daily on the news, death and destruction are the norm on the 5 oclock news.

 I'm not ashamed to admit I bawled my eyes out when I saw this story. I can't possibly imagine the horror and sense of loss this father is going thru.

 The drunk driver died, so there isn't even anyone this guy can vent anger at.

[Eagler]

enjoy em while you got em

it's too late when they are gone ............

[Fishu]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
What about a "3 strikes your out" policy on drunk driving? you get caught 3 times, you do life in prison...too extreme? Or not enough prison space for the drunks in this country?

That is way too extreme.

IMO such laws causes only more danger - what happens when you're on your third time and realise what you've done, which means you will spend your whole life in prison - you might go berserk, since theres nothing to loose anymore.

[Wanker]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
What about a "3 strikes your out" policy on drunk driving? you get caught 3 times, you do life in prison...too extreme? Or not enough prison space for the drunks in this country?

Well, maybe not a life sentence, but a lengthy sentence, with a mandatory session at the Betty Ford clinic thrown in for good measure.

[Steve]

"4-lane highway - 2 lanes going your way, 2 lanes going the opposite way. You're in the left lane following a truck or van, toodling along at a safe speed. Meanwhile, in front of that van is a vehicle that's completely stopped waiting to turn left. The van drives right up to the back of the stopped vehicle, then changes lanes at the last second, leaving you to scream into the back of the stopped vehicle that you didn't see because of the van.

Vehicle ahead of you is turning left into a parking lot. You're behind it and you want to follow it into the parking lot, too. There's a pause in the oncoming traffic so the vehicle in front of you turns across the traffic into the ramp of the parking lot. You proceed to turn left, too, thinking the car ahead of you will pull on in. Instead, the car ahead of you stops at the ramp and scans for open parking spaces instead of driving forward, leaving you broadside to oncoming traffic. "

You are reponsible for your own vehicle.  In both cases, there is no one to blame but yourself.  "You" assumed and made bad decisions.  These drivers didn't "hang you out to dry" you made foolish choices.

[nuchpatrick]

It needs to be extreeme, having personnally lost a good friend to a DUI driver on his 4th! offcence to find out all 3 previous DUI's he's injured people!!  Only to find out this guy never had a licence to drive. past his second offcence.

There should be no 'wiggle room' These f**** should go right to slammer. . . .

[boxboy28]

as far as the drunk driving LAWS are concerend ever STATE makes the own for the most part and obviously you guys making the comments never got DUI's ond how evers broter musta had one damn good lawer!
i know here in Michigan
1st offense is few days jail time ,probation(6months) and restricted liscense
2nd offense is 5-10 days jail, longer probation (1yr) and loss of licsence for at least a yr. when you get it back you have to have a breathalizer.
3rd offense is 90days-1yr jail. loss of licsense for 5 yrs.

Now drunks are gonna drive with or with out a liscense and with or with out a breathalizer.

Now the real issue is how many State/county/township officials/cops  who drive drunk and get away with it!!!!!!!!!!

[Ripsnort]

In a related story..

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The House killed legislation to toughen Louisiana's law against drinking while driving on Monday, after successfully avoiding a yes-or-no vote on the issue until its hand was forced by the Senate.


State law already calls for a $50 fine for drivers who possess open containers of alcohol on public highways. Monday's House vote was on language expanding the law to cover passengers, as ordinances in 18 parishes and 187 municipalities now require.


House members voted 53-46 to table the issue, a motion that cuts off debate without giving the sponsor of the measure a chance to give his final argument. Before the vote, however, debate had lasted close to an hour.


The Senate had passed an identical bill early in the session and the House Judiciary Committee approved the same bill 6-3. But until Monday, opponents succeeded in getting the House to avoid a full-fledged debate by having the bill committed to another committee, setting off a series of parliamentary moves and countermoves that saw the bill through an unprecedented three different committee hearings before it was killed in the House Transportation Committee.


The bill's author, Sen. Joel Chaisson, D-Destrehan, then amended the language onto a House-passed bill by Rep. Buddy Shaw providing a $25 fine for leaving children unattended in a vehicle.


Monday's debate was on whether to accept the amendments.


Shaw, R-Shreveport, touted the amendment as a way of helping combat drunk driving. Rep. Tony Perkins, R-Baton Rouge, said current law can easily be subverted by a driver who hands a drink over to a passenger to avoid a ticket.


Opponents said there was no proof that open container laws save lives, that the legislation would be difficult for police to enforce and that it was unfair because it excludes large motor homes (longer than 21 feet) and licensed for-hire vehicles.


"Don't you think it's kind of unfair to put those exceptions in there for people who can afford it?" asked Rep. Alex Heaton, D-New Orleans.


Rep. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans, was among House members complaining that the law would interfere with people who want to drink while heading to LSU football games, although Shaw pointed out that Baton Rouge, where the games are played, already has such a law.


"This bill is one of the greatest infringements on people's rights that I've ever seen," said Rep. Taylor Townsend, D-Natchitoches. He said it would lead to police pulling people over anytime they saw a passenger lifting a cup to his or her lips.


Townsend's motion to table the matter avoids the possibility of a House-Senate conference committee coming up with a compromise on the bill and mean's Shaw's original measure dealing with children left in cars is dead for the session.


However, the House will likely vote on the issue again this week. Chaisson amended the same language onto a second bill dealing with people who assault bus drivers. That bill's author, Rep. Melinda Schwegmann, D-New Orleans, said she will likely ask the House to reject the Chaisson language and send the bill to a conference committee, rather than risk losing the bill entirely.


The issue provided a tough vote for lawmakers, who were pulled in different directions by the alcohol lobby, a rich source of campaign contributions; constituents accustomed to being able to drink in their cars; highway safety advocates; and the federal government, which denies the use of some highway construction funds to states that don't pass the tougher law.


According to Jim Champagne of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, failure to pass the tougher open container language will cause Louisiana to lose an estimated $8 million to $10 million in federal highway construction money. Under federal law, the money will have to be diverted to safety programs.


Other legislation designed to curb drunk driving fared better, getting final legislative passage in the Senate on Monday. Those bills included measures making it a crime to refuse a blood alcohol test following an accident that kills or seriously injures someone, and another increasing penalties for drivers with a blood-alcohol level of .20 percent or greater.

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