Coach Boeheim hits, kills man on interstate

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I once was in a situation somewhat like this. 2 am the Saturday of Halloween. I was 100% sober. Bad weather so I was doing 35 in a 55 zone. I came over a hill and there was a car in the middle of the road that had been in an accident. I tried to brake but still hit him, though very softly. Fortunately he had wisely gotten out and run to the shoulder - I guess he couldn’t move the car. Fortunately no one was hurt. Police showed up and gave me a ticket for driving too fast for the weather conditions (not true) and failed to breathalyze me despite me being a guy in his early 20s at 2 am on Halloween. Despite not hurting anyone I was very shaken up about what could have happened.

Long story short, if you have an accident do anything you can to get the car off the road. If that is not possible, get yourself far off the road.

Thoughts and prayers to the victim, their family and Coach Boeheim.

[Rich]

ESPN College Gameday, scheduled for Syracuse this Saturday, has been canceled.

[JasonEvans]

A very controversial and speculative post (as well as the replies) have been deleted and infractions have been issued. Feel free to continue the conversation.

[Philsfan]

The news just hurts my heart.

I was involved in a similar situation in '08 where I hit a man standing in a dark roadway (around 10 at night, no nearby streetlights, he was wearing dark clothes). I stopped, called 911, did everything right after the fact, the investigators told me.

Unfortunately, nothing could be done and the man later died at shock trauma. My prayers go out to this man's family as well as Coach Boeheim.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

The news just hurts my heart.

I was involved in a similar situation in '08 where I hit a man standing in a dark roadway (around 10 at night, no nearby streetlights, he was wearing dark clothes). I stopped, called 911, did everything right after the fact, the investigators told me.

Unfortunately, nothing could be done and the man later died at shock trauma. My prayers go out to this man's family as well as Coach Boeheim.

Dittos to the bolded part. Sorry you had to know this first hand. And yes, Boeheim and family are also suffering and victims in this. Terrible hurt all the way around.

[hallcity]

There's been no announcement that Boeheim won't be on the bench coaching the game. It's hard for me to understand why he would try to coach the game. I'm assuming Boeheim bears no legal or moral responsibility for this tragedy. I just don't think it will look right if he tries to coach the game not to mention that Boeheim has to be so distracted that it's hard to imagine him being an effective coach. Boeheim deserves private hugs now not a big ovation as he enters the court.

[Indoor66]

Life must go on, even after tragedy. Each of us handles tragedy in our own way. I do not feel wise enough nor empowered enough to know what is the right course for others so I am very slow to judge the choice of others.

[uh_no]

Life must go on, even after tragedy. Each of us handles tragedy in our own way. I do not feel wise enough nor empowered enough to know what is the right course for others so I am very slow to judge the choice of others.

bingo.

[DU82]

I talked to our regional traffic safety engineer, who is charged with investigating every fatal crash in this area. (I presume NYSDOT has a engineer with a similar role and responsibility.)

He would be very surprised, based on what he has read, that there would be any charges filed in this case. It appears the first crash (that disabled the Charger in the travel lanes) occurred almost immediately before Boeheim approached the scene, and the occupants of that vehcile were still trying to get clear of the lanes. (Again from what's been reported) Boeheim reacted to what he could see (the vehicle) and moved where he thought it was clear, but couldn't see the passengers in the road. He did everything he was supposed to after the incident. While I've never been in such a situation, even if it was not his fault, I'd expect Boeheim is feeling "survivor's guilt", which is a natural and reasonable after-effect of something like this.

I have no doubt that with such a high-profile incident, each and every report will be highly scrutinized. I'm sure some haters will find something they question (since they won't fully understand the incident report and investigation) but I'll be surprised if there was much Jim Boeheim could do to avoid this crash.

If you are ever in a similar situation, try to move your vehicle out of the travel lanes, and onto the shoulder (preferably the right shoulder.) Do not stand near the vehicle or travel lanes. If there's guardrail, get behind it.

Interstates are not designed to have pedestrians. If you are in the median on a bridge, do not go over the barrier. There's a good chance there's a gap between the bridge on your travel direction and the other direction. There have been instances of people jumping over the barrier, and falling to their deaths on the street/stream/river below.

[CDu]

Interstates are not designed to have pedestrians. If you are in the median on a bridge, do not go over the barrier. There's a good chance there's a gap between the bridge on your travel direction and the other direction. There have been instances of people jumping over the barrier, and falling to their deaths on the street/stream/river below.

This is the key point. If you are driving on an Interstate, you are most likely driving between 55 and 85 mph. Even slowing down to go around an accident on the Interstate, you're still likely driving 40+ mph. You are not expecting people to be standing on the Interstate. And if it's dark, it can be REALLY hard to see a person on the Interstate. An awful, awful turn of events, but yet another example of why people should be extra cautious in getting out of (or staying out of) a car on the Interstate. Because pedestrians are the unexpected occurrence on an Interstate.

There's been no announcement that Boeheim won't be on the bench coaching the game. It's hard for me to understand why he would try to coach the game. I'm assuming Boeheim bears no legal or moral responsibility for this tragedy. I just don't think it will look right if he tries to coach the game not to mention that Boeheim has to be so distracted that it's hard to imagine him being an effective coach. Boeheim deserves private hugs now not a big ovation as he enters the court.

Life must go on, even after tragedy. Each of us handles tragedy in our own way. I do not feel wise enough nor empowered enough to know what is the right course for others so I am very slow to judge the choice of others.

Yeah, I would not fault Boeheim for continuing to do his job in an attempt to add some normalcy to what is surely a surreal situation. I would also not fault Boeheim for not being able/willing to be there on Saturday. It's a position I cannot fathom being in, and hope I never have to experience. But I'll assume that whatever decision he makes about handling the situation is the best decision he can make given his circumstance. And I'll hope I never have to make that decision either way.

[dukebluesincebirth]

He will coach tomorrow per Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack

[HereBeforeCoachK]

He will coach tomorrow per Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack

There was no wrong answer here...no easy answer here. I respect this decision. I have no reason to think Boeheim was at fault, and no reason to think he's not eaten up by this. You could say sitting out is showing respect, but you can say coaching is a show of respect.

I would think there would be something honoring /remembering the victim at the game. Perhaps arm bands or moment of silence or something. The guy and his family will be honored by 30 thousand on national TV. That doesn't bring him back, and it may or may not comfort the family, God bless them, but most traffic victims don't get that. Heartbreaking all around.

[Acymetric]

There was no wrong answer here...no easy answer here. I respect this decision. I have no reason to think Boeheim was at fault, and no reason to think he's not eaten up by this. You could say sitting out is showing respect, but you can say coaching is a show of respect.

I would think there would be something honoring /remembering the victim at the game. Perhaps arm bands or moment of silence or something. The guy and his family will be honored by 30 thousand on national TV. That doesn't bring him back, and it may or may not comfort the family, God bless them, but most traffic victims don't get that. Heartbreaking all around.

I doubt they do something at the game. Something about that just feels...off. It wouldn't surprise me if Boeheim himself wore a pin or something, but I don't expect anything stadium-wide and for some reason I can't quite put my finger on I hope there isn't anything. The idea just makes me vaguely uncomfortable.

[uh_no]

I doubt they do something at the game. Something about that just feels...off. It wouldn't surprise me if Boeheim himself wore a pin or something, but I don't expect anything stadium-wide and for some reason I can't quite put my finger on I hope there isn't anything. The idea just makes me vaguely uncomfortable.

I would invite the family of the deceased to a later game. No need to be patronizing here, as the guy had nothing to do with the school or the program. Further, they're probably grieving and doing funeral prep now, so I doubt they're much concerned about what the syracuse basketball team does or doesn't do.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I doubt they do something at the game. Something about that just feels...off. It wouldn't surprise me if Boeheim himself wore a pin or something, but I don't expect anything stadium-wide and for some reason I can't quite put my finger on I hope there isn't anything. The idea just makes me vaguely uncomfortable.

You may be right...there's no set of directions for this kind of situation.

[Acymetric]

I would invite the family of the deceased to a later game. No need to be patronizing here, as the guy had nothing to do with the school or the program. Further, they're probably grieving and doing funeral prep now, so I doubt they're much concerned about what the syracuse basketball team does or doesn't do.

After thinking on it more, trying to pin down why gesture by the school make me uneasy, I think maybe its at least partly that this isn't a school matter, it is a personal matter between the Boeheim family and the family of the deceased. Any grandiose gesture by the school comes off as unseemly (perhaps unless the family indicates that it is something they would want). That still doesn't quite explain it fully, but I think that is part of why the idea sets off my "this would be inappropriate" alert.

[uh_no]

After thinking on it more, trying to pin down why gesture by the school make me uneasy, I think maybe its at least partly that this isn't a school matter, it is a personal matter between the Boeheim family and the family of the deceased. Any grandiose gesture by the school comes off as unseemly (perhaps unless the family indicates that it is something they would want). That still doesn't quite explain it fully, but I think that is part of why the idea sets off my "this would be inappropriate" alert.

I would say an appropriate gesture would be some sort of "drive" for donations to victims of traffic accidents or something...if it's anything, it should be about everyone who is affected by these unfortunate realities of technological advancement, and less about the individual circumstance. As someone said, there are tons of wrong-place-wrong-time vehicular deaths. I don't think syracuse needs to elevate THIS one over all those, so the way to honor it is a gesture to everyone affected by such tragedy.

But that's just my impression.

[sagegrouse]

After thinking on it more, trying to pin down why gesture by the school make me uneasy, I think maybe its at least partly that this isn't a school matter, it is a personal matter between the Boeheim family and the family of the deceased. Any grandiose gesture by the school comes off as unseemly (perhaps unless the family indicates that it is something they would want). That still doesn't quite explain it fully, but I think that is part of why the idea sets off my "this would be inappropriate" alert.

This is a totally private matter, not involving Syracuse in any way, except to the extent that it affects Boeheim, who is an important leader at Syracuse U. Boeheim is soldiering on. So be it.

[uh_no]

syracuse had a moment of silence at the game. Some members of the family were unsure, but ultimately okay given they honored him at the game.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...eim-devastated