Alcohol, speed blamed in Westfield teen's fatal crash

I have a daughter and son in Westfield.I'm a very big part of her life. I make it my business to know where they are. Yes it takes a lot of time to check up on them. I call parents,I drive to the houses thy are at. I also talk with my kids about the dangers that are out there. Communication and tough love is the key,I believe.

Why do parents make wearing a seat belt important to their teens!!!

You child does not realize how important it is. If my girl were to not wear her seat belt I would not let her drive for a year along with call the police.

Being a parent is not being their friend!

Why don't parents make wearing a seat belt important to their teens!!!

You child does not realize how important it is. If my girl were to not wear her seat belt I would not let her drive for a year along with call the police.

Being a parent is not being their friend!

very sad

You can tell a teenager to do something until ou are blue in the face. By age teens are defiant and we must hope that they listen and understand. The death of this child should be a wake up call. Alcohol is a very big issue amongst teens. If they dont have a cell get them on ane and make sure if you let them stay out that you speak to a parent or someone in charge. Never take anything at face value always question because we never know.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the young girl who was killed in the accident as well as those in the other vehicle involved in the crash.

Please remember the family needs understanding and not criticism. There is no such thing as a perfect parent, perfect child or perfect relationship.

As recent graduates of Westfield High School it is evident that a trend of obliviousness remains among parents in regards to what actually occurs in the community. It is not the fact that she wasn't wearing a seat belt that was the leading contributor of the accident, but rather the acceptance and tolerance of alcohol. Do not blame the lack of a safety belt or family but rather, the lax culture regarding the consumption of alcohol and lack of alcohol moderation and safety education. The loss of two of our friends two years ago briefly shocked the community, but quickly alcohol was once again accepted. Parents in Partnership, which was created shortly after the deaths of Travis Woerner and Kristin Rice, has done a good job of providing alternative activities for students but we feel has not provided enough for parents. I would suggest more preemptive strikes against a culture in the classroom as well as community that accepts alcohol as recreation. If an approach of responsible consumption and education like that on mystudentbody.com was taken rather than a fully abstaining oblivious view these incidents would most likely be minimized. Also, please do not forget that this has happened numerous times in a highly concentrated area, Hamilton County.

Our class was saddened by this article and would like to make the following comments:
We'd like to offer our sympathy to the families involved.
We'd also like to comment that friends don't let friends drive drunk. If you see that your friend is drunk, do not let them get behind the wheel. You may be their last hope!
Sincerely, Kentai, Ashley, Lauren, Kayla,Steven, Alex, Kaitlyn, Courtney, Brianna, Luis, Alyssa, Stephen, Sabrina, Ashley, Eric, Ashley, and Mrs.Wilson.

It's unfortunate to see this happen to another Westfield student. How many more accidents that involve alcohol will have to happen there before these kids will see how devastating and stupid it is to drink and drive?

Another waste of life and property. when are people going to wake up. We have lost 84 in Iraq this month, but how many thousands die like this young girl each year due to stupidity!!

I feel sorry for her family, I feel sorry for the loss of life..wake up people!!

It's very sad that the young lady lost her life that way and my heart goes out to her parents. Being a parent of a teenager myself, and doing all that I can to protect her, educate her, warn her, and anything else I can think of, as parents we can only do so much. Our youth (as well as adults) need to be a little more aware and use better judgement about the things we do. As parents, mabye we should come up with a "one-call" exception. If your child gets in a situation, allow them to call you to get them, rather than endanger their lives. I don't know, I think just about anything is better than losing a child. My sincerest condolences.

My heart goes out to the parent. I hope an investigation by the police will find out where the alcohol came from, and how was the party champeroned. Not much can be done to save the young lady, but someone needs to account for this young loss of life.

I hope all parents get the message, our youngsters are drinking and other things, yes we would love to believe otherwise, but wake up to the fact, a large part of society are showing our teens it's cool to drink and smoke. Please ask questions and follow up on plans to stay out after hours. Be a little fly on the wall sometimes. It is not fun but it may save a life. God Bless the parents of today, they have a rough job, let's all help, Schools, churches, and friends.

Deadly combination, alcohol, a young inexperienced driver and a stop sign. If there had been a roundabout we would be talking about someone who ended up in the shrubs in the center island and who lost control instead of yet another young motorist killed.
Sincere sympathies to all involved.

Where is a 16 y/o getting alcohol? I've heard of many parent-condoned parties where alcohol is provided because they would rather their kid "drink at home where they are supervised." That is just plain stupid. I also agree that more parents should take it upon themselves to check up on their kids and see if they are where they say they are. That's not a violation of their privacy...these kids are our responsiblity!

She will be dearly missed by all! I'm praying for her friends and family during this time of grief.

Being the mother of 2 teenage girls, my heart goes out to the family. My heart also goes out the police offiers that have to work these terrible accidents; my husband was one of the officers that was on the scene and it is hard for them to work all these teenage sensless deaths and to not think of their own children. We must somehow continue to educate our children on what can happen when you drink and drive.

I am saddened by the loss of yet another teen. I no longer live in Westfield but try to keep up with the community. When I was growing up in the 1980s, another Westfield student lost her life from a drunk driver that was a total stranger. The community was outraged. I hope the whole area will not let this young lady die in vain but do something in remembrance of her. Do something to always remember her.
Last spring we lost a teen, Megan, in an accident. She was not wearing her seatbelt - alcohol was not a factor. ALmost immediately the whole community created a "buckle up" campaign in Megan's honor. There were and still are bumper stickers all over our town to remember her. Approx. 1 month after Megan's accident, another teen rolled her car. If not for Megan's death, she would not have had her belt on and would be another statistic.
May God bless the entire Westfield community as you decide what you can do, individually and as a community to let this young lady live on.

my thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Holly. Although I didn't know her very well I did know her to be a fun energetic girl and am sad to hear of the tragedy.

Do some of you think before you write your comments? Honestly Kim, if this was your child would you want anyone saying that? Or hear that? These folks are hurting. They lost a loved one.

Kudos to the few of your who spoke about what can be done in the future to help prevent this as well as the fellow students and grads. No one wants to lose a loved one in a car accident regardless of the cause.