Teen Drinking, Drugging and Driving End in Freeport, TX Crash

Teen Drinking, Drugging and Driving End in Freeport, TX Crash; 2 "Wasted" Adults (Andrea Cantu and Rodney Harris) Responsible

News reports from Freeport, TX relate a sad tale. Reports say that a "drunk and high" 13-year-old crashed a Mazda owned by 22-year-old Andrea Cantu after a night of partying. The crash sent a 16-year-old passenger of the Mazda to a hospital ICU with a nearly severed arm. Adults Andrea Cantu and Rodney Harris (also 22 years old) rode as passengers in the Mazda that crashed. The 13-year-old admits that she drove the vehicle because the others were "too wasted." We believe that the 13-year-old (who at least attempts to take some responsibility for the matter) was the least impaired of the 4 car occupants. Yet she was herself "wasted" enough to crash the car and to be openly described as "drunk and high on drugs" in news accounts of the Freeport, TX wreck.

The news reports tell us that:
* The "drunk and high" 13-year-old admitted that she was driving because the other 3 people were just "too wasted" to drive;
* Andrea Cantu, the 22-year-old owner of the crashed Mazda, says: "That wasn't her fault;" and
* They (it's not specified if "they" describes the 2 adults and the 13-year-old driver or just the 2 adults) say they don't know what happened, who was driving, or how the accident occurred.

What the brief news reports don't tell us is:
* What the two adults were doing partying (getting "too wasted" on drink and drugs) with two underage teens;
* What relationships existed between these four Freeport, TX car crash victims; or
* Where they needed to drive so badly that they turned the car over to a 13-year-old driver who was also "drunk and high."

But a few things are clear. Andrea Cantu, the Mazda's owner, is somewhat unclear on the concepts of responsibility and fault. I can well believe that the two "too wasted" adults don't know what happened or why. It's a sad comment on the circumstances of the event that the youngest member of the party, a 13-year-old, had to take responsibility for driving. This young teen also seemed to try to take responsibility for the whole matter.

Legally, the young teen can't really shoulder the adults' responsibilities. Andrea Cantu and Rodney Harris can't escape the responsibilities that their adult years give them (although, clearly, they are wont to try). Their years make them legally responsible for what happened. In addition, Andrea Cantu owned (and let a child almost a decade younger than her drive) the car in which she was a passenger when it crashed.

Let's hope that no one's responsibilities in this matter will extend to taking a life. Give your thoughts and prayers to the 16-year-old teen who remains in the hospital in critical condition. This unfortunate teen has sustained life-threatening injuries because of this ill-advised and intoxication-fueled car trip.