Last month, less than a mile from my house, a 17 year-old girl driving her 15 year-old brother home turned (on a green light). Coming at them was a modified Honda Civic — driving 70 mph in a 30 50 mph zone. (Updated thanks to a commenter who pointed out the error. —Rick) The 15 year-old didn’t make it, nor did the girlfriend of the driver. Details from the days after the accident are here and here.
Now here’s the kicker: In today’s paper, it turns out that the driver, Mike Walt, has bragged about his poor driving record. Bragged? That’s right. Mike is a member at TeamRevolution.net (click here to see all 300+posts by him). And courtesy of his website, we see that in addition to the wonderful stereo he had in his car, he also had installed a PlayStation2 and a 6.4” LCD screen. In a Honda Civic. According to the coroner, one factor in the deaths was the headlights that had been modified to point lower to the ground, potentially making it harder to see him (especially when coupled with his speed).
There’s more. He bought a new car, less than two weeks after the accident that killed two teenagers. So if you see this car careening around Naperville, get out of the way. Fast.
Just to sum up: 26 tickets in four years. From the Naperville Sun: “Seven tickets for speeding, two for failure to slow to avoid an accident, two for driving too fast for conditions and one for leaving the scene of an accident.” His driver’s license had been suspended or revoked at least twice in the past two years.
All of this leads me to wonder: exactly what does it take to revoke someone’s driving privileges for life?
29 responses to “Mike Walt has the worst driving record of anyone he knows”
Rick, you are missing the point entirely. In America, a driver's license is a God given right. Also, the Constitution says nothing about not being an idiot, therefor, by extension, one effectively has the right to be an idiot.So how dare you question this man's God given right to be both an idiot and drive whilst being an idiot? How un-American of you.I mean, taking away a MAN's right to drive his car! That's down right communist. Next thing you'll want people to pass tests in order to get their license, and limit the amount of alchohol one can drink before or during driving. This is America! We have the right to be stupid.(/sarcasm)
Wow. This makes me sick. But isn't what Walt did involuntary manslaughter?
This guy is crazy. I am a fan of tricked out cars, but only when they are used in a controled environment. To be driving like a lunatic, and with that driving record, I'm disgusted. I was checking out the links you posted and in an attempt to backtrack to his main index page on his website and discovered the it has been temporarily shut down because “…biased reporting of certain newspapers.” Biased? This kid needs to get a clue. I agree with Roy that this is involuntary manslaughter. 70 mph in a 30?! Two people killed? Enough said.
The guy's .signature creeps me out:Godspeed to all those who have fallen and will fall before me, for in the promise land I shall see you all again…For this b…munch, driving a car is some kind of holy quest or crusade. Makes me want to take him on a trip or two of my own.
Re: “Involuntary manslaughter” – as a prosecutor, I am convinced I could make a good case for vehicular manslaughter, depraved indifference to human life (dunno how IL courts handle DI, driving under the influence or significantly over the limit could get him that in NY, though), and aggravating circumstances. Combine it, multiply it by three, and he'll hopefully spend his 40th birthday where he belongs, in prison. Coming to think about it, there should be IL precedent for the treatment of the vehicle as a deadly weapon, which could – if the website contents are allowed in – make for man one.
We had a similar situation here a few years ago. A woman with a 10 page driving record flew through an intersection and killed a 20 yo college girl who had been student teaching in my town. The driver claimed she was unfamiliar with the road and did not know that there was a stop sign there. The problem was that the side road she was on intersected a 2 lane, 55 MPH, highway and she was going over 50 on the 25 MPH side road at the time –with her 3 yo unbelted in the back…under the influence of drugs…and with a suspended license. Unfortunately, the legislation to deal with this kind of crime had just been passed and nobody had ever been prosecuted under it up until this case. Before they even got to trial, they challenged the law, and they kept it tied up in court for about 3 years. In the end, she was found guilty of some lesser offense, and despite having murdered a beautiful young girl, she walked away with 30 days in jail and a 1 year license revocation (which was meaningless given that she had already proven she would drive without a license). While I know the first commenters post was in jest, the problem in America is that we do think of driving as a right, not a privilege, and sadly, our justice system seems to pander to that belief. People are using their cars as weapons and we treat them like scofflaws instead of the violent offenders they are. It's ridiculous.
There are many things about this situation and the team revolution website that bother me. First, and maybe someone can answer this for me, how was Mike Walt able to post pictures of his smashed car less than 24 hours after the accident? I've known other people who have been in accidents and they haven't had access to their vehicles for several days after an accident.All of Mike's “buddies” on the site are very quick to defend him. They insist he has done nothing wrong and blame the newspapers for writing about things that aren't true. They are very quick to point the finger at someone else for being at fault. The police department reported that Mike was to blame for two out of the three reasons they cite for the crash and yet his friends maintain he did nothing wrong. Mike Walt posted the story about the accident on the team revolution website the day after it happened. Six days later he edited his original post (it says so on the bottom of the post). I happened to see the original one and I know for a fact that he changed the speed he said he was going. If he is so innocent, why would he change anything???Are enraged citizens like myself totally helpless in stopping drivers like this from being on the road? What can we do and/or who can we talk to?
Get in contact with your state legislators. People like this walt character should not only be off the roads, but they should be in jail.
Just to let you know, This is rediculous that you are writing this about Mike.. Mike is one of my best friends, and he did nothing to hurt anybody.. My girlfriend and I were getting ready to go the mall with them.. That's right. Mike was not RACING… he was going to to mall with his girlfriend and his friends. I don't like how the family and the newspapers are blaming it on his modified car… Modifing cars is one of mike's hobbies.. Not racing. And for the newspapers talking about his driving record that was found on teamrevolution.net… Lindsey and my girlfriend used to joke about that.. It wasn't anything special. Mike acutually straightend up his act.. He would never do anything to hurt Lindsey.. I just think it is cruel that you guys don't even know who he truely is, and you have to talk about him on some stupid website….Thanks for you time.
“””Quote:The guy's .signature creeps me out:Godspeed to all those who have fallen and will fall before me, for in the promise land I shall see you all again…For this b…munch, driving a car is some kind of holy quest or crusade. Makes me want to take him on a trip or two of my own.””””Ok that is a prayer that mike said, dont mock a prayer!!!!
im friends with both cars invovlved with this accident. i work with mike and go to school with the girl driver of the other car so im neutral on the subject….but…just wanted to mention that the “30 mph zone” is actually a 50, just lowered from 55 a few months ago. lets not forget that mike was CUT OFF. nothing can justify cutting in front of someone and as a teenage driver, i can see how one can just be looking for excuses. I think there has been enough losses is this already, so WHY CONTINUE WITH THIS BS!!!!!!!!
To None of your business, A friend, and A friend of both:Hey, Einstein, how come if I roll my cursor over the signatures on the last 3 posts they all say streethonda95@hotmail.com????????Also, since when do you know Krista, the driver of the other car? Why don't you stick to the truth…oh, I forgot, you guys don't know what that is.
First of all… i was the one who wrote that stuff, not streethonda95… i was on his computer when i wrote it… so shut ur face!!
OK, that's “first of all”…….what's second? Were you going to answer my question about knowing Krista?By the way, the speed limit at the accident site is 45.
ok first off how many of you people on this utterly retarded site actually know mike. thus far i have seen 2, if you dont know him how can you make a judgement on him as a person just by reading the pappers, have you not heard of biased reporters… you people anger me so bad when you are so quick to judge someone that was involved in an accident with a friend of yours. sure mike may have been speeding but lets not over look the fact that krista took that turn at 30 miles per hour, yeah you heard me. when they did the forensics testing and vehicle speeds her car was calculated at 30 mph, wich means that she did not look into the turn rather she just went without even thinking…as far as the headlights on Mr walts civic they were dot approved and his brights were on just as they are always on. who cares about the TV that he had in the car. it didn't even work. if you think that you are so special that you are going to go onto here and try to act all tuff and shit then you need to re think cause all you are is a group of E-Thugs hiding behind a computer.i am done
You seem to be the one TRYING to act tough. However, you keep changing your signature and e-mail which indicates that you feel you need to hide. I'd love to know where you get your information on the forensics. I know you'd never say because, like everything else, this is something you're fabricating to make your friend look innocent.You are right about one thing. I don't know Mike and I never said I did. However, he could be the nicest guy in the world AND still be guilty of something. I'm not making a judgement on him as a total person. For instance, you may be a wonderful human being, nice to animals and old people. BUT, you certainly have no clue as to how to talk decently or argue a point with any intelligence whatsoever. You see, if you didn't resort to name calling and swearing I would take you seriously and people would be more willing to listen and consider what you have to say. People usually associate with others who are like them. This tells me that Mike could very well be like you. Hmmmm, a hothead who just may speed way past the limit!!!
ok this is not streethonda95 i know him but this is not him. did not call you names like a little kindergardener. the forensics that i stated are correct you can check with the police department on that one. i am in no way trying to act tough so you may think what ever you like but i aint.i am not trying to make mike look inocent i am stating the facts. i know a little more about the situation than you do i know the people that were involved, and the friends of the people that were involved. i have seen the facts first hand and you have not.
Why do you feel the need to act pompous and arrogant about this? How do you know that I'm not involved or that I don't know any of the people involved? I happen to be connected directly, so don't try to intimidate me by saying you're an expert on this subject and I don't know anything.Let me just say this … by Sunday you're going to be even more upset. Trust me. When you understand what I mean, you'll know that I'm involved and that I know what I'm talking about. Come back here then and try to tell me some more “facts”.By the way, do you ever read what you write? I believe you called me an “E-thug hiding behind a computer”. Sure sounds like name calling to me. Maybe you misread the forensic report as well.
I'm curious………..since the forensic report was officially released at 1:00PM on May 6 (yesterday), how can you be so sure of it's contents? By the way, it states that Krista's speed at the point of impact was 22MPH. It sure looks like she slowed down to make the turn.If you're getting your information from your friend Mike, you better ask him again. It sounds like he's got everyone fooled.
as a friend of mikes i would just like to defend him and say that what happend wasent his fault and that just because u modify a car dosent mean your racing. and why didnt the beacon talk about the driver of the other car having little driving experiance? she was the one that caused the accident after all…. i would urge all people to write to the beacon about their B.S. artical and complain about how its totaly bull shit. i want to know who the girls family knows at the beacon news to get them to print such a crappy one sided article
Why is the other driver's “inexperience” even a factor in this? If she's 17 and has had her license for one year with no tickets or accidents, then I would say her “experience” is good. Mike Walt is 21 and has had his license for five years. In those five years he's had 26 tickets and 4 accidents. Who has the better “experience”????
if her experience was so good then why did she turn in front of a car? it was at night and his brights were on so i still fail to see how this could be his fault. maybe some people need to get over it and let it be
Maybe she turned and would have had plenty of time if he hadn't been going 70+MPH. Looking straight on at the headlights of an oncoming car, it's very hard to judge what their speed is. We could “maybe” ourselves to death, but his speed is not a “maybe”, it's a fact.It's sad that all of Mike's friends want everyone to “get over it and move on”. Obviously, Mike has had no trouble doing this.
how do u know that mike has had no troble getting over it? do u know him? the fact is that he wasent at fault in the accident and now everyone is out to make it seem like its his fault because he has a bad record. even though if u knew him u would know that since his licence was suspended he has had a good driving record. no tickets for almost a year up to this. is it to much to think that maybe he did learn his lesson and was driving better? as for his 70+MPH thats a total lie try more like 55 0r 60 tops and to say that its hard to judge how fast a car is coming? well if its that close maybe she should have just waited instead of cutting somone off….
I do believe it's possible for someone to change. BUT, I read Mike's post about driving on the shoulder on I55 and going 100MPH on lower Wacker Drive and how much fun it was. THIS POST WAS WRITTEN LESS THAN ONE WEEK BEFORE THE MARCH 11 ACCIDENT!!! So how do you expect anyone to believe that he had changed his driving habits since the year before? I am NOT going by what I've read in the newspaper. I'm basing my opinion from what I've read that WAS WRITTEN BY MIKE. Now you're saying I shouldn't believe what I read in the paper PLUS I should ignore what Mike has written. Make up your mind.
mike hadent done those things after he lost his licence he did them befor. and u still havent said why mike should be at blame? do u know how close his car must have been to hit her like that? like 100 feet. even had mike not been speading it would have been very close. at that distance u could see a car coming with only its parking lights on let alone their brights. mikes record isnt to blame for this accident. he was legaly driving he has his licence back so whats the big deal with being their? if u think its his fault because he sholdnt then maybe u should bitch to the courts not mike. its not his fault he got his licence back. and of course he tried to get it back who wouldnt.
I'm sorry Brandon, I know it's late, but I'm having a hard time understanding what you wrote. All the posts written by Mike's friends have been in a sort of sub-English, but yours is by far the best example of why you shouldn't skip EVERY English class to go to Auto Shop.Anyway, I'll attempt to answer you and I'll cut and paste so it will be exactly what you wrote. You wrote “mike hadent done those things after he lost his licence he did them befor”. Reread my post and you'll see that I was referring to a post Mike wrote LESS THAN A WEEK BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. I even capitalized it. HE said he was going 100 MPH on lower Wacker Drive in MARCH 2004. I can't say it any clearer. That alone shows he hadn't “changed his driving habits” from the year before as you say.As far as the distance his car was from hers, you should reread what YOU wrote on that. “even had mike not been speading it would have been very close.” EXACTLY!!!!!! Had he not been speeding, it would have been VERY CLOSE, BUT HE WOULDN'T HAVE HIT HER!!!!!!! You also wrote “and u still havent said why mike should be at blame?” I don't have to … you just did!
ok you say that you are personally involved in this?? you trying to say that your name is Ed fanselow? hiding behind the internet identity of a woman?how would you know how mike is coping with his loss? do you know him personally? no cuase obviously dont know how he is doing from what you stated in your previous post…you stated that the speed of the vehicle was at 22 mph wich means that when she made the turn she was no where near stopping when she was starting to judge the turn. if you are going to try to say that she propperly judged the intersection and deamed it safe to proceed, then that has to be one of the dumbest comments that i have ever heard. she looked at that intersection and decided that she was going to gamble weather or not she could make it through the intersection. she was gambling with her brothers life and her own as well…dosen't look like she a full hand now does it… i was at the hospital when mikes mom met the family of krista…if they are so set on blaming mike for this then why the hell were they so damn friendly when this all happened i am pretty sure that if they thought that mike was to blame at all they would have been a little bitter twords mikes friends and family. sounds like they had some friends in the media that they thought that they could use for there own personal advantage to make it look like krista was not to blame. hell if my daughter was resposible for the death of 2 teenagers i would be pretty pissed too. but the fact of the matter stands that krista made a dumb decision to gamble with hers and her brothers lifes and lost the life of a loved one in the process and killed another before thinking twice about what she had just done.
OK – I'm closing this thread; there's no need for this to devolve into a he said/she said argument that contributes nothing to the overall discussion.–Rick