17-year-old girl killed when driver runs a stop sign
BATTLE GROUND, Wash. - A 17-year-old girl was killed in a crash in Battle Ground on Friday and deputies say charges are possible.
The crash happened just before 3 p.m. on SR-502 (also called Northeast 219th) at Northeast 29th Avenue. SR-502 is the main highway linking Battle Ground to Interstate 5.
Investigators say 20-year-old Ryan L. Matison of Battle Ground ran a stop sign and hit a Chevrolet pickup that was headed in the opposite direction.
The girl killed in the crash was his passenger. She was from Woodland, Wash.
Matison and the driver of the pickup, a 23-year-old Battle Ground man, were injured.
Washington State Police say speed played a role in the crash.
Until we have computers drive us around, we will unfortunately always have driver fatalities and injuries. Â One of the problems is who wants a computer to drive? Â Not me. Â I feel bad this happened, but it is inevitable.
If he broke the law it should be apparent. Car one plowed at a high rate of speed into another -  and all of that occured while the driver of car one was driving recklessly, intentionally and over the legal speed limit. If he caused the lives of another to be cruelly ended - and he survived - he should be in jail today - for murder.Â
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Speed kills. This is not rocket science. Why the hesitation to admit and acknowledge that fact. With a felony criminaldocument - outlining the terms of a murder charge.Â
"...deputies say charges are possible...." Which means it is also possible that no one will be charged. I am having a hard time getting my head around this one. Driver runs a stop sign. Someone dies. And it is still only "possible" that there will be charges?????
 @Mechanic They probably are wanting to button up the case so the trial evidence is strong enough to support the facts as the accident reconstruction team and the witness(es) describe them.
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Also, we don't know how severely injured the other driver is. Â He may not be able to talk to the police or may not remember what happened. Â Hopefully it isn't because he's in such grave condition that he might not make it and additional manslaughter charges are needed. Â They may even be waiting for toxicology reports to come in.
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Last, but not least, its a holiday weekend which means the accident reconstruction teams are probably quite busy (obviously an accident as severe as this one usually takes precedent over a small, but costly, fender bender), the District Attorney is on holiday leave (but probably being kept appraised of the situation), and the news reporters are all being sent to the malls and box stores to talk about how much money we're supposed to be spending.
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I'll settle for "possible" as long as the case is solid and able to be presented without prejudice to a judge and jury for a valid legal sentence. Â I really doubt they WON'T file some type of charges for this accident. Â It is too significant to ignore.
 @CTWU  @Mechanic And every minute of today and tomorrow - this murdering low life - can flee. Leave. Slither away. And the life of a human being - killed by the actions of a criminal who took a car and plowed it into another at an ilegal rate of speed - with callous intent to harm another - means nothing.Â
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Every minute this "holiday" weekend where no criminal investigation is appropriately pursued - just so public servants can have "holiday" time off - is time where this low life murderer - can flee. And never, ever be held criminally responsible.Â
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Hmmm - enjoy that Thanksgiving turkey and all of those football games, instead - Battleground law enforcement. You know - that's all that "matters at the end of the day". I guess.Â
 @englishdaisy  @Mechanic I'm pretty certain the key figures that are responsible for the State, City and County have been actively working on this case since it happened.  Having worked for federal and county governments and having regular contact with city and state governments, I can assure you even on your "day off" you're never far from your job.
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As far as this "murdering low life" is concerned, first, I'm glad to hear you apparently know him and are capable of making legal decisions based on what you think happened vs. what really happened.
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Second, he appears to be very much entrenched in the North Clark County community with strong family ties. Â He is less likely to leave the area than many other transient criminals are.
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Third, I believe he is still in the hospital and will most likely go directly from the hospital to jail.
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Fourth, is there a reason why deserving civil servants aren't allowed time off for their friends and family like the rest of the world is? Â I can assure you that this time off (whether it be for holiday time, sick time, or personal leave time) is well deserved and necessary to recharge the mind and spirit and to remind these civil servants of WHY they serve people like you and me.
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Fifth, to make the speculative comment that Battle Ground LE, in particular, doesn't care, is heartless and cruel. Â Not only do the majority of their officers live in the community they serve and protect, they have to pass the point of this collision frequently so the accident will continue to weigh heavily on their minds. Â Some are probably also either friends or family with the three individuals involved. Â So, for them, the significance is even greater.
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For what its worth, I despise drunk driving so don't think I don't care about it. Â My Uncle and my husband's Aunt were both killed by drunk drivers in terrible, terrible accidents.
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I will hold my judgement in this case until the facts are presented. Â I may have formed an opinion already, but it is really insignificant to the truth that may come out later.
 @CTWU  @Mechanic I worked Traffic Homicide for too many years and there were times when all I could do was write the driver several tickets, none of which were criminal, based on State Laws. If drugs and/or alcohol were not involved it becomes pretty much a civil thing between insurance companies. I do not envy Deputy Jim on this one, having been there...
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 @boned  @Mechanic One of the thankless jobs, that's for sure. No matter what your answer is, you're not going to make most of the people involved happy with your decision. You're right. The Deputy has a very tough job on his hands. He certainly earns his money and my admiration for his efforts (and his team, too).
Omg...so sad to hear this. In 2007 I was also T-Boned by a driver failing to stop at his light as he came off of I84 going West. I was on 181st headed to work and my light went green, and he came barreling thru as I was going into my intersection going toward NE Sandy. My little Neon was crumbled as the car shown...airbags went off, dashboard and windshield popped and landed on my lap. My neon was a 95 bought show room new...he was driving a '84 Volvo wagon and he managed to limp away heading down toward Sandy where his car died. Driving while suspended and no insurance...my insurance paid for his tank of a beater. All of my injuries were under my skin...I turned patent leather up and down my right side, still have some herring bone pattern across my chest from the seat belt...excruciating pain. But I lived. And this poor girl, snuffed out before she had a chance in life. So sad...my heart goes out to her family.
 @fracas Volvos are tanks.
 @Jamie  @fracas Yes, Volvo's are great as are BMW's and MB's and 50% of the drivers I dealt with had zero insurance. In this new paradigm, my guess is 80% of folks carry zero car insurance - it is the first thing to go during hard times...
 @fracas [... isn't that the way?  Too bad there isn't a fool-proof way to ensure all drivers have insurance.  So far the uninsured seem to be one step ahead.  Too bad we can't get them locked up for 10 years - and make sure they serve the 10 then maybe they'd think about canceling their insurance right after getting their licenses or driving the new car off the lot.
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So sad...from reading the story I'm trying to picture how it happened...KATU says one car ran the stop sign and hit the car going in the other direction...wouldn't that make it a "head-on"?  Now if a car was going north-south and hit a car going east-west..then I could picture it....
 @KHEB You are dealing with reporters that get $11.00 an hour since The Columbian filed bankruptcy...
How sad, because on person had to be irresponsible, a young lady lost her life. I hope they press charges against him.
If you actually want to read more about what happened -- and, yes, it appears to be that the driver of the Toyota Corolla failed to stop at a flashing stop light resulting in a t-bone collision -- the Columbian's site has a much better article.
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http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/nov/23/one-person-dead-after-collision-highway-502/
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Sadly, the passenger in the Corolla, a 17 year old girl, didn't make it and had to pay the ultimate price for (according to the initial reports in the Columbian article) excessive speed and failure to be an attentive driver.
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The Columbian's article has also released the names of both drivers so anyone who knows the girl associated with the driver will be able to determine rather quickly who she was (and friends and family have already started posting at the Columbian's site).
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My heart goes out to them and the other driver involved. And for the family of the driver who appears to be responsible, too. No matter what, the aftermath will continue to be felt for quite some time.
 @CTWU The family of the driver is criiminally responsible for what he did ,the murder he committed, for every action he choice to intentionally make on the road that day?Â
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Excuse me?Â
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 @englishdaisy Sorry, English, the family is NOT responsible for the actions of the driver.  No more so than saying the family of the woman killed is responsible for allowing her to get into the car with the man who killed her or the other victim's family is responsible for allowing him to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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So, yes, I do feel sympathy towards the family of the man who caused this whole situation to occur because it isn't their responsibility. Â If, on the other hand, it comes to light that they sat there and handed him drink after drink (or drug after drug or whatever intoxicant of choice they may have had available) and encouraged him to drink well past the point of intoxication and then knowingly and willingly let him get behind the wheel of a vehicle, yeah, I guess my sympathy would be misplaced (at least for those who encouraged this activity).
 @CTWU It does not change the current RCW's and like I said, I feel for CCSO Deputy Jim on this one...
Sad Thanksgiving.
Headline says "head-on crash" NOT...this is a T-bone...of course, I guess one car was 'head-on" into the side of other one. Sad someone had to die though!
Sad. Looks more like the car pulled out in front of the truck to me based on the pics. Either way, very sad.
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How awful. Our hearts and prayers to the families of the people involved.