File this one under “senseless, preventable tragedy”: a Pennsylvania man was killed, and his son badly injured, when they car they were in lost control and hit an embankment. At the wheel was Michael Hershey, a car salesman who wanted to show off the handling capabilities of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution his dealership was selling. It turns out that Hershey had been drinking prior to the accident, and also tested positive for marijuana use. A blood test showed a BAC of .06, below the .08 level for impairment in Pennsylvania, but still more than is advisable for demonstrating the handling limits of a car to potential buyers.
The accident happened on December 30 of last year, when Chris Jensen visited Imports of Lancaster County to look at the Mitsubishi Evo with his 21 year old son, Tyler. Tyler Jensen was behind the wheel when the trio left the dealership, but Hershey soon insisted on driving to show the Jensen’s “how to throw the car sideways” in corners. Witnesses estimate that Hershey was traveling in excess of 90 miles per hour on a narrow country road when a truck pulled into his path; attempting to swerve around it, Hershey lost control and the car hit an embankment. Despite suffering from broken vertebrae in his neck, a separated shoulder and a concussion, Tyler performed CPR on his father, who died at the scene. Hershey, who wasn’t seriously injured in the crash, now resides at the Lancaster County Prison awaiting trial on homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment and driving at an unsafe speed.
My sympathies go out to the Jensen family, but I’ll use the tragedy as a “teachable moment”. If I’m in a car driven in a reckless manner, I’ll speak up right away, especially if I don’t know the skill level of the driver. I know my own limits, which come from years of experience behind the wheel, both on-track and off. I like to wind cars out as much as anyone else does, but there’s a time and a place for everything. A narrow country road, at dusk in winter, isn’t the place to test the limits of a car’s handling, or your ability to drive it.
Source: Lancaster Online, via Jalopnik
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
