Agreed!

I can’t help but feel sorry for the 14-year-old girl who was likely coerced into it, and now gets to live with the consequences.

Trowbridge definitely deservers a Darwin nomination.

Why are girls coerced and boys are not? If the roles were reversed we would never say, “That poor boy was coerced into doing it by the girls”. I feel bad that she will have to live with her CHOICE to be as stupid as the boys, not that she was coerced. Were not talking about stealing some candy or cutting class. She chose to be involved in something that easily could, and did, kill someone. You have to be pretty weak minded to be coerced into doing something like that.

I suppose that since the girls were only 14 and the boys, 15 and 17, we can assume the girls were the ones coerced into riding with them. Did the girls know that a bit of car-surfing was on the agenda? If yes, then they’re idiots. If not, then they’re still idiots for getting in a car with (I assume) a drunk kid behind the wheel.

I know the girls were coerced in this instance. That’s why I didn’t say “the” girl and “the” boys. My first sentence was a general statement about how we view the actions of girls and boys. The second sentance further clarifies this by stating what I believe would happen if the roles were reveresed. That is, if the 15 and 17 year old surfers were girls and the 14 year old was a boy.

But, how did the vehicle remain at speed while Martin gets out of the moving vehicle and the hapless passenger slides across the console and into the driver’s seat?  Under about 30MPH you cannot set the speed control.

On the other hand this missing detail adds further credentials for a nomination of this event for a Darwin award.

I’d suggest one condition of being nominated for a Darwin award is that evidence must be submitted along with the story that both the nominee (if surviving the event) and the parents of the nominee have been sterilized.

In my own defense, I was basing coersion on age. I’m guessing the 14 and 15-year-old were taking their lead from the 17-year-old. I’d put him in jail, but, you know, he’s dead and all.

How stupid must you be to do something like that it’s like thoes people who train surf what idiots. and the girl should have stoped him form getting out to join his friend he should be in jail for being stupid.

Yeah, um, that wasn’t too clever. I think I’ll second that Darwin nomination. And the girl’s are probably struggling to get into a university in the next couple of years too…

I’m surprised by some of the comments made. There is only one thing to be said about it: We all did some really stupid stuff when we were young.
Luck had it if:
1> Nobody got hurt
2> Nobody got caught

I’m not casting an judgement on anyone who commented here, but c’mon… adolescence is that time in life when we know everything, but we are dumbasses.

True Covie, but there’s dumb and then just plain idiotic. I was dumb and took a lot of chances when it was only my own life involved but I never did nor ever will consciously pull some stunt that could end up hurting or killing someone else.

I hope that does not make me the exception instead of the rule.

Well, I know first hand the dangers of car surfing.  I on Oct. 27, 2002, fell off the hood, on my head while the car was going 25 mph.  I am alive but had a traumatic brain injury leaving me with right side weakness, short term memory problems and aphasia among other things.  While I coun’t DREAM of charging the girl who drove me for ANYTHING, I can’t imagine that the guy being charged with manslaughter.  Maybe I’m different, but I did it, and have to live with my own consequence.  I couldn’t imagine my friend, who I am still good friends with, to be charged with anything.  When I read this I was shocked.

Well, excuse me, jackass.  I was in that fucking vehicle and in that accident.  You weren’t there.  It’s sites like this that make me hate people.

By the way.  We didn’t know it was going to happen.. the girls.. and no one was drunk or high.

You’re right, I wasn’t there and no one thinks you had any idea that the accident was going to happen. Or at least we hope you didn’t, because if you did and you went ahead with the stunt anyway then you really WOULD be a complete dumbass.

The point being you should THINK about your actions before you engage in them so you don’t end up killing someone accidentally. It’s your complete lack of thought about your actions that resulted in the death of one of your friends. It’s that sort of idiotic non-thinking on the part of a pretend-cop that cost the life of my best friend of 23 years over a year ago. Don’t be a DUMBASS and I won’t end up writing about you on my site.

Okay.  For one, I was not the girl driving.  That was my best friend.. so don’t even think I could’ve stopped it.  Did anyone think that maybe we told her to stop but she didn’t listen..?

Just as an extra note.. I’m not best friends with her any more.

I stopped by your blog and read up on your entries about it and I owe you an apology as it’s clear from what you’ve written that you did try to dissuade both Chris from getting up there in the first place as well as to get Bianca to stop the truck. It’s clear you’re not the dumbass here, but Errol I have no sympathy for. He deserves whatever the law throws at him.

I hope you have better friends in the future, for your sake if nothing else.

Vanessa, I’m sorry you lost your friend, and I’m sure everyone made their own decisions - maybe not with a lot of thought behind them - but I would bet none of you are the same now.

Eric - I never saw your comment to me. I certainly don’t think that makes you the rule. Just makes you one with more forethought.

I have no sympathy for Erroll either.

And, none of us are the same now.

Yesterday it was 4 months since Chris died.  =/

I was doing a research paper for a class on deaths caused by car surfing. The reason behind it is that Chris Trowbridge was a good friend of my sister and I, he spent alot of time staying with us and his death has had quite an impact on us. Imagine my suprise when I typed in car surfing deaths and got a link to this page which is actually about Chris. I would just like to say that for all of you who would like to nominate Chris for the Darwin award, why don’t you nominate yourselves in the ignorance category? First off most of you are probably adults who are making fun of a DEAD 15 year old for making a mistake. If any of you knew Chris, which the only one on this board whom I know did was Vanessa, then you would know that no one forced Chris to get up there. He did shit like that all the time, no matter what you did you couldn’t stop him. Chris chose to get up there, as soon as I heard I knew there was only one person to blame. Chris. These were kids, they made a mistake. Its not something for the rest of you to mock, I don’t think he could be punished anymore than he has been. And Vanessa, I know it was hard on you too, but Errol didn’t force Chris up there, we both know that. As for the rest of you, if you’d like to keep talking about the idiot he was then you can continue to hurt those of us Chris left behind, you know his friends and family love this stuff. People, just think before you speak. Thats all I ask.

Trust me, I gave it plenty of consideration before I said anything and I stand by what I’ve said. I realize it may be painful for the folks who knew Chris to hear this, but if he was making choices like this all the time then he was a dumbass and someone should have told him so while he was still alive. If they had then perhaps it would’ve sunk in and prevented this tragedy.

Pretending otherwise just enables people to continue to ignore the stupidity of their friends and loved ones and makes further tragedies like this pretty much inevitable.

what the fuck if everyone here was friends with him u shouldnt be fighting come on chris wouldnt want us to be like this oh maybe just maybe u ppl r just freaks and like to hear about ppl dieing am i right

u ppl need to fuck off cuz u wouldnt be like this if u were friends with him u assholes

Wow, incoherent and nonsensical. I almost wasn’t able to decipher that.

And you’re wrong, Spencer, if I had been friends with Chris I’d still think he was a dumbass for car surfing and getting himself killed in the process just as I would think Errol was a dumbass for allowing it. Sure, I’d be sad Chris was killed and I’d go through a grieving process, but I’d still feel he was a dumbass and I’d probably be pretty pissed at the same time because he should’ve been smarter than that. I know this cause I’ve already been through it.