Mother survives car crash that killed husband, 4 daughters

TOWNSEND, Del. -- A family spokesperson has identified the New Jersey family who was killed in Friday's crash in Townsend, Delaware, CBS Philadelphia reports. The spokesperson identified the father as 61-year-old Audie Trinidad. The children were identified as 20-year-old Kaitlyn, 17-year-old Danna and 13-year-olds Melissa and Allison.

His wife, 53-year-old Mary Rose, was transported to a local area hospital after suffering serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Both husband and wife were properly restrained in the vehicle, police said, but their four daughters were not. The crash occurred around 3:45 p.m. on Route 1, the state's major north-south artery.

State Police M. Cpl. Melissa Jaffe said Friday that a a southbound pickup truck crossed the median and struck a northbound passenger car. It's unclear what caused the pickup truck to cross the median.

Jaffe said the car came to rest on the median, while the pickup truck continued to travel southbound in the northbound lanes and was hit by a minivan carrying the New Jersey family. The two occupants of the pickup truck and the single occupant of the car were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Photographs from the scene showed a blue tarp covering a white passenger vehicle with massive front-end-damage. The vehicle's roof appeared to have been cut off by rescue workers and was lying upside down on the ground nearby. A few feet away was a maroon extended-cab pickup truck, which appeared to be a commercial vehicle, with its passenger side caved in.

"It's certainly heartbreaking," Jaffe said. "I feel so bad for this family. I cannot imagine what they're going through."

Trinidad's brother, Daniel, told the New York Post "their bodies in the morgue are unrecognizable."

"They're a God fearing family," he said. "They go to church. My brother texted me a picture of the blue crabs they ate on 4th of July. They're all gone in the blink of an eye."

A family friend, Linda Douglas, who set up a GoFundMe for the family, told NJ.com that Audie Trinidad was "always the dad to pick everyone up in the minivan ... We traded off, but no matter whose sweet 16 it was, you could always count on Audie."

That is really sad Whole family wiped out.

Short of the pickup driver having a heart attack or other medical crisis causing the person to lose control, they should go to jail for the rest of their lives. :mad:

that is just so sad for the family. And now the Mom will have to go on without kids or husband.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitkahuna (Post 10244996)

Short of the pickup driver having a heart attack or other medical crisis causing the person to lose control, they should go to jail for the rest of their lives. :mad:

Kind of a harsh judgement there, isn't it? We don't know (yet) what made the pickup jump the median like that. Some things are beyond a driver's control. Could have been a blown tire, lug nuts coming off, broken steering/suspension piece, sudden violent crosswind from a storm....anything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmarshall (Post 10245020)

yes of course vehicle failure is another way it wasn't the driver's fault, but more likely inattention, dui, etc. we'll see.

This link has video including stills from car crash. Looks like f250 demolished the minivan... they had no chance.

http://abc7ny.com/traffic/father-and...ified/3718921/

That is a shame, I have traveled route 1 to and from Delaware beaches dozens of times, will be in a couple weeks too, I have had some close calls and seen some bad accidents, a while ago a cop was killed on route 1 by a drunk driver in the wrong lane. Many people are flat out jerks in that area on that road in a big rush, many are buzzed or drunk and you have to watch out for people driving at really high speeds.

Horrible...

If I were the mother, I'd rather have died along with them...what a terrible thing to have to live with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitkahuna (Post 10244996)

that is just so sad for the family. And now the Mom will have to go on without kids or husband.

If she does. I don't think I would.

God, however, often works in strange ways. I have seen Him bring ultimate good out of some of the very worst of situations....where people who have suffered great tragedies (assuming this poor woman actually survives, and I am praying for her), go on to new lives. Sometimes, when one door in a person's life shuts (in this case, four or five for her), others open up with new possibilities. That was the case, for example, with an old friend of mine from decades ago, who lost her husband and daughter when their old Chevy sedan (which lacked much of today's safety equipment) hit a wall (her pre-teen son son survived with a number of missing front teeth). After her own inevitable grieving and suffering, she went on to become a counselor, minister, and devote much of her time to helping others suffering from similiar losses.

Having said that, though, if there is found to be negligence or criminal activity on the part of the F-150's driver (drugs, alcohol, texting, cell-phone, or other driver inattention), I'm not saying that he or she should be let off the hook....he or she should, indeed, have to answer for their actions (or inactions).

Just about every city has a story like this every single week of the year. At least that is what I see on the news here in L.A and surrounding areas. The bulk of reasons here, in order, seem to be: DUI, distracted driving, street racing, driving to fast for the conditions, and road rage. Driving each day is by far the most dangerous thing we'll do throughout our lives.

I saw this crash a few months ago, wrong way drunk driver in Texas killed someone while someone video taped, the video was longer showing the aftermath which was bad, the vehicle he hit was pulverized.

Extremely sad. This was on our local news as we are out of Phila.

With all the controversy, lately, one of my best friends lost his sister and niece in El Monte, CA. Drunk driver, not documented. Friend was so wrecked for more than 2 yrs. Imagine that length of time, being out of it, depressed. That niece was headed to Cal Berkeley. All that hard work and bright future, taken away by a stranger. His family was from Vietnam and to have listened to their struggles when they came to the USA and started with nothing. His dad became a US Citizen in his late 70's, and was so proud to be an American.

What's sad about this recent story is it was all the kids. Cannot even imagine how that mom is going to go on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fizzboy7 (Post 10245374)

As far as this specific accident goes, people generally don't street-race with F-150s (except maybe with a few of the older F-150 Lightnings), but, yes, all of those other sources are a possibility. The amount of driver-distraction nowadays with cell phones and texting, for example, is simply staggering.