School mourns popular Palos Verdes High student

I saw the makeshift memorial Sunday afternoon while I was driving towards PV, but I didn't know the story behind it. My deep condolence goes out to this young man's parents. It's bad enough to lose a child, but to lose your only child?!? How tragic. I pray for this young man's family. May God be with you at this very tough time and always.

I am so sorry for this young mans family. I pray that God is with you through this most difficult time you will ever have to endure. Please readers, do not make this article about something else it is not suppost to be and just leave condolences to this young mans family and friends are in much pain.

I cannot fathom why a parent would let their teenager drive a Corvette or any other vehicle associated with speed. Then again in the article it seems that Andrew had a Mustang - again a vehicle associated with speed! It's unfortunate and tragic that he lost his life due to being a careless teenager and making one mistake. I would never ever let my teenager get behind the wheel of a fast car. My heart goes out to this family.

At the Sunday night, his dad tearfully told us that Andrew was driving his dad's car too fast. He pleaded with the kids there to drive responsibly and that he hoped no other parents had to go through what he and his wife are dealing with now.(and yes, how about those innocent victims in the other cars? His parents carry that guilt too)
Teens are the same anywhere. Reminds me of my teenage years growing up in San Pedro. Senior year, exciting possibilities coming up with graduation, and dad let you borrow his beloved car. How many boys in the same situation--dad's car, your girlfriend at your side--would have (and have) done the same thing--speed. I just thank God that somehow I was spared such an accident during my teenage years.
Go easy on the judgement here. These are really nice people who just lost their son. And through all their pain, they are taking full responsibility for their son's actions.

17 year olds should not be driving a car with other teens in the car, isn't that a state law?
He was probably trying to impress his girlfriend with how fast this car can go.
The parents of this child should be sued for giving a child a lethal weapon.
Driving should be restricted to going to work or school only for the first 2 years of having a license. Sports cars are not appropriate for new drivers.
The parents fault, 100%. I hope they have a good lawyer.

'drag racer' check the laws. There is a restriction only for the first year that the drivers license is issued when it comes to driving with passengers. These insensitive comments just shock me. Do you people making these remards not remember what it was like to be a teenager or do you have no kids, and if you have kids, they surely are not perfect and you for sure do not always know what they are doing. I agree with 'Kims' post, keep your comments to yourself.

First, I want to thank the community for supporting Dr. and Mrs. Sakura and my daughter during this very difficult time. In particular, I want to thank those who waited with the Sakuras during Andrew's surgery, and who have visited my daughter in the past few days.
Second, to those of you who have posted derogatory comments, please keep in mind that hindsight is 20/20. Andrew was a responsible and wonderful young man, who had driven that car many times before. This was an accident, a particularly horrible and unfortunate one, but an accident. I hope that those of you who felt the need to make judgmental posts about the story have some compassion for Andrew's parents underneath it all.
(Mr. Karg, are you related to Brendan? He knows my daughter, and can comment this. However, to answer your implicit question, I understand that one more person was seriously injured, but don't know the car that person was in or the extent of his/her injuries.)

I will pray for his family and friends. It's so sad, but God has a plan for Andrew I'm sure. I wish all of the parents really understood, it's so dangerous letting someone young drive a car like a Corvette. Those cars are just too much for most young ones, and from what I read about Andrew, one very sharp young adult. At the very least, maybe all of his friends can share with all of the friends now and in the future about the importance of driving safely.

Many blessings to Andrew's family and friends.

of a PV teenager speeding off the hill. Whether its a telephone pole on Hawthorne Blvd or Crenshaw curve, each one involves a high performance car and speed. "Here, son, are the keys to my Corvette. Watch your speed." Right. Maybe one day parents will understand you don't put a cannon in the hands of an peashooter. They will still pull the trigger.

injured girlfriends mom wrote:

First, I want to thank the community for supporting Dr. and Mrs. Sakura and my daughter during this very difficult time. In particular, I want to thank those who waited with the Sakuras during Andrew's surgery, and who have visited my daughter in the past few days.
Second, to those of you who have posted derogatory comments, please keep in mind that hindsight is 20/20. Andrew was a responsible and wonderful young man, who had driven that car many times before. This was an accident, a particularly horrible and unfortunate one, but an accident. I hope that those of you who felt the need to make judgmental posts about the story have some compassion for Andrew's parents underneath it all.
(Mr. Karg, are you related to Brendan? He knows my daughter, and can comment this. However, to answer your implicit question, I understand that one more person was seriously injured, but don't know the car that person was in or the extent of his/her injuries.)

No, a preventable one.

drag racer wrote:

17 year olds should not be driving a car with other teens in the car, isn't that a state law?
He was probably trying to impress his girlfriend with how fast this car can go.
The parents of this child should be sued for giving a child a lethal weapon.
Driving should be restricted to going to work or school only for the first 2 years of having a license. Sports cars are not appropriate for new drivers.
The parents fault, 100%. I hope they have a good lawyer.

You don't need a muscle car to speed. I see plenty of these teens doing 50-60 mph on the streets in their accords, civics, altimas, etc. My condolences to Andrew's parents. As for the folks who just post negative comments on here, get a life you cold-hearted fools. You won't know until the pain and sorrow comes knocking on your door.

Mom, I hope your daughter gets well soon. God bless the Sakura family. PV students, please learn from this young man's tragic mistake, IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

Parents need to wake up, it seems that yearly, since I graduated from Miraleste HS in 1989 at MINIMUM one kid per year has died in a tragic car accident. Kids believe that they are indestructable, I know I did, I thank my lucky stars daily that I did not meet the same fate as these other young people. Three people from my senior class died in alcohol / speed related crashes before they hit the age of 21. Altman, why don't you do a story regarding the number of youth deaths due to unsafe speed or alcohol that have occured in the South Bay over the past 25 years? I would wager that kids from the hill represent the highest percentage of those killed in these cases. Parents, wake up! How many more senseless deaths are we going to have before we stop putting kids behind the wheel of such poweful vehicles? Vehicles capable of such high performance in the hands of teenagers with extremely limited training is asking for tragedy. Remember when you were young? What risks did you take? How often do teens REALLY think about the consequences of their actions? Especially in regard to something that appears benign, like speeding.

I wonder how all of you (who are passing such harsh judgement) would feel if it were YOUR OWN son or daughter who just died in such a tragic accident and head to read all these seething comments?
None of you have any right to pass judgement on this young man or his family. YES, it was a senseless death, YES it was an unfortunate accident, and YES he was going too fast (which, by the way, could have happened in ANY kind of car). But none of that gives ANY of you to be so righteous. Only God can make that judgement. I pray for his family, friends, and the other passengers involved in the other cars.

CBT wrote:

I wonder how all of you (who are passing such harsh judgement) would feel if it were YOUR OWN son or daughter who just died in such a tragic accident and head to read all these seething comments?
None of you have any right to pass judgement on this young man or his family. YES, it was a senseless death, YES it was an unfortunate accident, and YES he was going too fast (which, by the way, could have happened in ANY kind of car). But none of that gives ANY of you to be so righteous. Only God canp make that judgement. I pray for his family, friends, and the other passengers involved in the other cars.

Who said anything about passing judgement? We are still entitled to our opinions or are we trying to stifle that right also?

speeding, let alone on the side street is just crazy. the speed wasn't mentioned so i thought that didn't matter because you just can't lose control of a car like the corvette because these things are made for speed. his driving inexperience played a huge part in this as this tragedy could happen to any car with an inexperience driver behind the wheel. it sucks to end things like this specially for his family and the other innocent people involved in the accident.

Andrew was a nice young man with his life in front of him. His parents are nice people, going through a tragedy..and that tragedy extends outward to their friends and family and to the friends and families of others involved in that accident. For a moment, put aside finger pointing and recriminations, and give sympathy, or better yet, empathy, to those who are hurting..hug your children and remind them you love them and need them to be safe. Dr. and Mrs. Sakura cannot do that. They can hope Andrew is beyond pain and in the arms of God. Give his family respect, kindness and support. God grant them peace.

Back in the 80's when I was his age, I had a used Camaro that I had bought with my own money. I was a waitress. I would go to work after I got out of school. My family wasn't rich. That Camaro was a powerful car and I didn't respect it. I did some stupid things, which I'm sure a lot of the above posters did. I was fortunate that neither I, or anyone else was hurt. These are the things that kids do. I think some of the more judgemental posters above have short memories.

rest in peace andrew. people just talk all that crap because they know they can hide behind their computer. everyone makes mistakes but some pay more dearly for them. to all the crap talking posters, you are far from perfect and just because you havent paid as harshly as andrew and his parents for their mistakes doesnt mean you are on a higher level than them. rip.

Vixen wrote:

Back in the 80's when I was his age, I had a used Camaro that I had bought with my own money. I was a waitress. I would go to work after I got out of school. My family wasn't rich. That Camaro was a powerful car and I didn't respect it. I did some stupid things, which I'm sure a lot of the above posters did. I was fortunate that neither I, or anyone else was hurt. These are the things that kids do. I think some of the more judgemental posters above have short memories.

Vixen, you hit the nail right on the head!!! Once again, I am sorry for everyone who is going through this horrific ordeal.

This story completely breaks my heart. It really brings to the surface a situation that has stayed near and dear to my own family. My kids were close friends of Allison Dewart who was 1 of two young women killed in a car accident in January 2006. My daughter would not get behind the wheel of our car for months following this tragedy, she said driving just for the sake of being able to, just wasn't worth it.

There never is a time when the death of a young person makes sense. I truely believe that this is not the time to assign blame for this tragedy. It is what it is, an incredibly tragic accident, a young man lost his life, and others were injured.

There are people and agencies whose job it is to analyze this accident, insurance companies, police, etc. It is Andrew's parents time for mourning, and prayer for the others who were injured. They don't need sanctimonious fools on some pedestal telling them what they already know. The mistake has been admitted, the guilt and loss will be an unbearable, lifelong pain, there is no need to rub it in. These parents have enough to deal with.

If you feel so strongly about this, please feel free to volunteer your time to help educate students about safe driving practices, but at least direct your energy in some positive way. Please people, you have the right to your opinions, but right now, Andrew's family and friends, all the people in his life deserve time to mourn his loss. They don't need negative criticism about their son, who, from all accounts, has led a very constructive, positive life. Try a little kindness and compassion in the face of such tragedy.