Hill jumping is the name given to a dangerous hobby that involves driving a car at a high rate of speed over a hill in order to get the vehicle to “jump” into the air as it leaves the top of the hill. Perhaps the popularity of this activity can be blamed on rallying culture, or as Jane Akre at the National News Desk puts it: “a form of motor competition on public or private roads, has been going on as long as there have been cars. As far back as January 1907, the first Monte Carlo Rally was held”. The difference between rallying in exhibitions, however, is that those cars have better suspension, and upgraded tires and rims that help them to better withstand a rough landing.
Sadly, teenagers are picking up on hill jumping as a new and extremely dangerous activity. As another IB attorney, Dough Landau, shows in a recent blog, hill jumping is particularly popular in Virginia. He provided several videos that depict the serious danger of hill jumping. As you can see in the video below, the teenagers involved in this hill jumping incident ended up crashing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RtfcosJzbw&feature=player_embedded
Actually, a 14-year-old passenger in the backseat with her cell phone took this footage. The driver of the vehicle had his license for less than 60 days at the time of the accident. The 14-year-old was ejected from the backseat and through the sunroof when the car flipped over and landed in the mud. She and the other teenagers riding in the vehicle were badly injured including a brain injury and facial lacerations. Nevertheless, the muddy conditions probably saved their lives by providing a more “cushioned” blow.
Those same teenagers also struck and injured a mother and her son during that crash. Luckily, they weren’t killed either, however they also sustained injuries. According to Landau in a recent interview, the current mantra surrounding hill jumping is “go huge or go home”. He urges parents to have a conversation with their kids and let them know that this isn’t acceptable behavior.
recently named in the 2009 edition of Best Lawyer's In America, David Mittleman has been representing seriously injured people since 1985. A partner with Church Wyble PC—a division of Grewal Law PLLC—Mr. Mittleman and his partners focus on medical malpractice, wrongful death, car accidents, slip and falls, nursing home injury, pharmacy/pharmacist negligence and disability claims.
One Comment
Mike Bryant
There are a couple of cases here in Minnesota where this activity is suspected. The damage has been devastating and totally changes some young peoples lives.
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