Tragic accident in CT

Yeah it would help if i threw the time in there.......... 4-8pm thursday august 28th (this thursday)

 

Tragic indeed. My prayers go out to the families involved.

Yet another thing to consider in the rebuild of my Model A as the driver's door did pop open after the impact in my crash.

 

Hey guys, i happened across this forum while doing a search for jessica's name. My name is scott butcher and i was the one who helped write those articles that you are reading. Jess was a great person, she went out of her way to help anyone who needed her, she was like a sister to me and it hurts to know she is gone. She loved that car and was so excited to be going for a ride that day. Justin loves hot rods and had picked this car up not to long ago. The accident was not his fault, we all know how these old cars are we are talking about steel thats older than me. Who knows what was done to it before we got it. Sometimes no amount of saftey checks help. We all know that! It was just a bad combination of events. It could have been any one of us, and could be any time. Replace whatever you have to to keep em safe, but remember whos riding in that car! I was with alot of you guys on the how can they make us wear them thing, but my veiws have changed. Bolt em in and stap em on. You never know.
Anyhow, i saw someone posted that they would like to come to the wake and pay respects to a fellow car guy. That is admriable. As you can imagine justin is taking this hard (would any of us? i dont know what i would do). He would be thrilled to see a bunch of rods, rats, whatever pull up to pay respects. You have no idea. It might be enough to keep him going............... im worried, im not sure what i would do in his place. It would be a great gesture for a fellow car guy, we all work hard on everything we have and can all feel for him on this............ the wake is at the gleeson funeral home at 258 prospect street in torrington ct 06790. anyone that wants to come would be appreciated.......................... thanks

 

Scott, Thank you for the post, sorry you had to find the HAMB this way. Thoughts and prayers are going out to all family and friends.

 

I will get the guys together and head up and pay our respects for a fellow car guy and human being Squirm Founder Rumblers CC

 

We will be there....

 

That's a really terrible tragedy, for certain. Prayers for the family and friends...

 

Such a terrible freak accident, that's something you just wouldn't even think of. Prayers for the family's loss, and the guy to know it wasn't anything he could control.

 

That is so sad. I hope he doesn't hold himself responsible and understands that mechanical failure is not something he could have foreseen. Our thoughts and prayers to this young man and the girl and her family.

 

prayers are going up for the families

 

Hey guys thanks. We all apreciate the thoughts, means alot. I didnt expect this to be the #2 google hit on her name, thats for sure. Everyone here knows justins not at fault, but convincing him of that is pretty damn hard. There is too many what ifs involved. The more ppl he hears it form the better it will be.........I dont know what i would do in that situation, i think we can all agree on that. It makes you realize how stupid some of the petty BS we all throw around on a daily basis really is......... everyone grab the phone tonight and settle your differences. It could be any of us. tomorrow. who knows.........

 

Rip jessica

 

I am so sorry for the loss.This is a horrible tragedy . I'm also pretty shook up as the owner of a modified 54 Buick Special with no front seatbelts myself. Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend, and it ain't tooling down Rt. 128 outside Boston at 65-mph with my wife in next to me until the belts go in.

 

Its amazing how a simple photo brings drived this tragedy home.

 

It's hard for me to even reply to this. This is a terrible thread to have to read. Ive never even heard of either of these people but it still hurts. I hope Justin can get through this rough time. It was not his fault and I hope that he knows that. Cruiselows, remember the loneliest times are when all the commotion is over and everyone else has moved on. Those are the times when Justin will still be thinking about it. Probably the time he could most use a call from a friend. I guess you can look at it this way....go back and read all the people who are putting seatbelts in there cars, how many future hot rods will get seat belts because of this, how many lives this event will indirectly save.....we will never know for sure but everything happens for a reason......

 

i was involved in a bad wreck myself this year. with no seat belts... the impact took my sons breathe away and freaked me out pretty bad. i was scared to death. i couldn`t imagine losing my baby boy.

 

Horrible news. May she R.I.P. Prayers coming from So. Cal.

 

My prayers and sympathy to the family.

I was another one who had the left rear lug bolts back out of a 55 Buick after the car had been worked on, that was about 41 years ago and I still remember it.

My wife fell out of the 48 backwards almost 30 years ago when she was sitting sideways in the seat with one foot on the seat and leaning against the passenger door. Left hand turn at slow speed and the door flew open and out she went. She still packs some of the scar from that accident. My students installed seat belts in the truck that afternoon in auto shop. I still have a hard time getting her to buckle up even now.

 

I used to drive cheap Studebaker larks almost exclusively. For some reason unique to larks once mildly worn, the latch mechanism would allow the doors to pop open on curves, bumps, etc. Never got hurt but I can see how a tragically as above situation could easily happen. After that I always put seat belts in my cars, but it could of just as easily happened to me before I learned. My thoughts are with the families involved.

 

This is really sh*tty news to hear on the 1st anniversary of my Dads passing!
I have nieces that age that are into the whole car scene, They drive vintage cars as well. One off those is a 62 Falcon. It seems to be pretty safe,but when she got it the belts were luckily already in, She uses them when she is home from NY Marymount.
I was driving a friends 1st gen Cougar based on the original Falcon/Mustang underpinnings. The friend stated that she heard a very slight noise in the left rear but it wasn't loud. We took it out for a 20 min ride around her area and on the way back within 2 mi.s of her house the left rear axle launched!. I was traveling about 35 but we were next to the 5fwy kinda on a hilly area just past Balboa Bl. If I would have been going the speed that Justin was going, I think we had been dust. The axle was intact, It just came away from it pressed on fit. These kind of things happen when we deal with stuff unknown to us. Please advise your kids and others to be very careful. Seat belts even though I personally don' like em in a glass roadster save some lives. My condolenses go out to all involved.

 

damn, she was only 23. my prayers to her family and friends.

 

Very sorry to hear about this.

Thanks for posting the cause of the accident. It might help prevent other accidents.

I have to admit that I have not yet installed seat belts in a couple of my cars (but now I will do it ASAP). I only installed lap belts in the on that I drive the most. It would keep me in the car but not prevent me from slamming into the steering wheel. I guess we all take risks driving these old cars.

I will check all of my lug nuts this weekend. I wonder if some of us check them less often than we should because some wheel covers are a pain to remove. Also, I sometimes wonder if wheel covers can cause damage to the valve stem (and the tire) without giving any indication.

Rebecca

 

Couple was to marry
Accident takes life of Torrington woman

<TABLE id=phototable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=325><SCRIPT src="http://www.rep-am.com/js/slideshows_head.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--SLIDES = new slideshow("SLIDES");SLIDES.timeout = 5000;SLIDES.prefetch = 1;SLIDES.repeat = true; s = new slide(); s.src = "http://www.rep-am.com/content/articles/2008/08/27/news/362389.jpg"; s.text = unescape("Jessica Robinson. Contributed Photo."); s.link = ""; s.target = "_blank"; s.attr = "width:300,height:217"; s.filter = ""; SLIDES.add_slide(s); s = new slide(); s.src = "http://www.rep-am.com/content/articles/2008/08/27/news/3623891.jpg"; s.text = unescape("Jessica Robinson with her best friend Emily Delarm. Contributed Photo."); s.link = ""; s.target = "_blank"; s.attr = "width:300,height:200"; s.filter = ""; SLIDES.add_slide(s); s = new slide(); s.src = "http://www.rep-am.com/content/articles/2008/08/27/news/3623892.jpg"; s.text = unescape("Jessica Robinson with Justin St. Pierre. &quot;She was my angel,&quot; St. Pierre said. Contributed Photo."); s.link = ""; s.target = "_blank"; s.attr = "width:300,height:450"; s.filter = ""; SLIDES.add_slide(s);if (false) SLIDES.shuffle();//--></SCRIPT><TABLE id=slideshowcontrols width=300><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></TD><TD align=middle></TD><TD align=middle></TD><TD align=middle></STRONG></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Jessica Robinson. Contributed Photo.
<SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--if (document.images) { SLIDES.image = document.images.SLIDESIMG; SLIDES.textid = "SLIDESTEXT"; SLIDES.update(); }//--></SCRIPT></TD></TR><!-- <tr><td>[component:image-photo-html]</td> </tr> <tr><td>[component:image-cutline]</td></tr> --></TBODY></TABLE>
TORRINGTON — Justin St. Pierre, survivor of a Saturday evening car crash that took the life of the woman he planned to wed, sat at a table strewn with photos.

"She was my angel," said St. Pierre, his eyes heavy with grief.

With him were Jessica Robinson's parents, family and friends. Her best friend, Emily Delarme, clutched his arm, offering comfort as St. Pierre spoke of his loss. "I loved her with all of my heart and soul," St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre, 27, and Robinson, 23, spent the last two nights of her life working on his 1954 Buick Special. The car spun out of control at 6 p.m. on Interstate 691 in Meriden when its left rear wheel flew off.

The force flung Robinson out of the car. St. Pierre, who was driving, was not injured.

"We were supposed to go to a car show in New York City ... She wanted to know everything about the whole underground car scene," St. Pierre said. "She wanted me to teach her with that car."

State police said Tuesday an inspection of St. Pierre's vehicle, to determine why the wheel came loose, had been delayed. Lt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman, said family and friends might have to wait four to six weeks for an answer.

No laws appear to have been broken, police said. Seat belts are not required in vintage cars. "If they didn't have them, you're not obligated to have them," Vance said.

"She was killed instantly," said Robinson's mother, Marianne. "So we couldn't donate her heart. Her heart had stopped. We donated her eyes, her corneas, muscles, bones, skin for skin grafts. She's going to be helping a lot of people, even afterward."

Helping people was a way of life for Robinson, who was working toward a nursing degree at Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted. Since September 2007, she worked as a nurse's assistant at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington. She had worked at Litchfield Woods in Torrington after graduating from Torrington High School, where she was co-captain of the cheerleading squad and planned to return as coach.

Since the crash, St. Pierre has stayed at the Robinson family home, while neighbors care for his Winsted house and his Great Dane, Marshmallow, and family and friends care for his two young daughters from a previous relationship.

"We finally got where we wanted to be in life," St. Pierre said, a heart-shaped locket he had given Robinson for Christmas around his own neck, now. "She wanted to get married in an apple orchard in the fall, have lots of babies."

Delarme, Robinson's friend since childhood, said they were inseparable growing up, playing double dare and building blanket forts, and painting the names of neighborhood boys on rocks, then kicking the stones down the street. Delarme said St. Pierre was the love of Robinson's life.

"I have never seen her so happy," Delarme said.

Calling hours will be held Thursday at The Gleeson Mortuary on Prospect Street from 4 to 8 p.m. A funeral will follow Friday at 11 a.m. at Center Congregational Church.

Marianne Robinson asked that memorial contributions be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a cause Jessica adopted as her own after her brother Timmy, 11, was diagnosed with the disease.

There was talk Tuesday of setting up a scholarship fund, though the family has opted to wait on that. Robinson's father, David, said the loss has yet to sink in. "On a rational level, I understand it," he said, his voice trailing off.

 

Hey guys, all the support is awesome. Theres not too much in the way of car clubs or anything out here, nobody that really gets it. They were supposed to have gone to the rumblers show in nyc that day but didnt make it. She loved this shit.

 

I am terribly sorry to hear of her passing.
Please send my condolences to her family and friends.

I hope that Justin will be able to realize that this was beyond his control. The Good Lord decided that He needed Jessica at this time. If not, she would still be here with her family.

Accidents are strange, sometimes people walk away from horrific looking scenes unscathed, other people die from bumping their heads in a 'fenderbender'. Only God knows what day is our last on this planet.

God bless her family and friends in this time of need.

 

here i am. justin st. pierre. im the survivor and my angel jessica lindsey robinson is who was taken from me. matt and the 100&#37; family came out to my baby's wake last night to show support. i did not not know what to say. i was in shock. i still dont know what to say. i will write more and make my presence known including my angel's when or if i make it through this. this car kulture shit was my life and she wanted to be part of it in every way. i just cant write anymore right now. mabey matt can speak a little more for me. thank you again matt.

 

Hey Justin. Don't know you but I want to send you and her family my condolences. I'm very sorry for your lose. Just keep the faith bro.

 

Myself, Ian and our friend Bill rolled out to Jessica's wake yeaterday. There had to be about 100 or so people on the front lawn of the funeral home when we rolled in.

We met Jessica's family and friends an passed along condolances from many of you on the HAMB.


As you can imagine Justin is taking this whole thing pretty hard. He spoke of how excited Jessica was about their Buick and for the past week all she talked about was the Rumblers show. We were happy to bring a little bit of the show to her today.

My buddies and I are committed to help get their car back on the road. I think its only fitting seeing how much she loved the car.

100% Matt

 

Justin

my condolences to you, the family and all friends

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.