When car and carriage collide
 

The last I checked, nobody was killed in this horrific accident.
It happened right in front of the Hard Rock.
Two cars, racing -- on a Friday evening in downtown Atlanta.
Unbelievable.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

The other half...

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

The entire 1718 team and mentors were standing right on the sidewalk where this occured waiting for a table at the Hardrock 5 minutes before this accident! I am so grateful that we were seated before this happened! Also happy there are no fatalities! They even found the horse!

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

The driver of the Lexus may have been racing and was charged with following too closely and other charges. A female passenger in the carriage was critically injured in the wreck. PETA is also asking that the city of Atlanta ban horse drawn carriages.
Dave

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

This proves the irresponsibility and the extremely risky business behind racing downtown on a busy street.
I hope everyone affected by this is going to be okay. :(

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

I had just gotten back to my hotel room on the 22nd floor of the Westin Peachtree to relax after a long day when I heard screeching tires and a dull thud. It was a terrible sight to see from my hotel room with pieces of shattered wood scattered across the intersection. It is great news to hear that there were no fatalities.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

I remember hearing stories about this the Monday after Atlanta from my friends on Team 1, who were feet from the accident when it happened (close enough to get hit by flying pieces of wood!). I sat in horror as they described what happened, wondering if everyone involved was okay, and am glad to hear that everyone is okay.

I would agree with PETA that they should ban horse carriages in busy city streets like this. Events like this just shouldn't happen!

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Following PETA's logic, they should ban pedestrians from Atlanta, since they could get hit by a speeding car.

Seriously, I love animals, but the problem here is the idiot who hit them. You can't fix stupid.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

There's a difference between having a horse in traffic and having people cross the street :/ I agree that it's the person in the speeding car's fault, though.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Good to see organizations like PETA exploiting any vaguely animal-related anything to push their agenda. I'm pretty sure the racing cars were the problem, not the fact that a carriage was drawn with horses.

What a horrific accident... :(

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Some of us from 2252 happened upon the scene sometime between when it occurred and when the ambulances arrived. I did my best to keep the group moving past it, but it was difficult to get through due to the number of onlookers/gawkers. Some of the kids told me later that although they had a lot of memories that they'll never forget about Atlanta 2010, this is one they wish they could. I'm totally amazed that there weren't fatalities, given the human carnage we witnessed.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

That's horrible! The city of Atlanta takes so many precautions to make sure that it is safe and friendly for FIRST students. Incidents like this counter everything that they are trying to do!
I just hope that everybody was ok....

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

On that note, I would like to commend the city officials and police for a job well done.
I was pleasantly surprised to NOT be accosted even once by a panhandler.
Was in Chicago couple months ago and couldn't walk a block without encountering a beggar -- some of them aggressive and rude!
I don't think the stupidity of the driver(s) that caused this blemished the city at all.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Not when the volunteers got let out each night. I had to deal with numerous ones. Even one in the walk way between the two Omni hotel buildings.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

The Omni had security personnel everywhere I looked while there. I was surprised that someone posing as a traveler entered the elevator with us, suitcase and all, and then hit us up for $. Naive me.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Yeah, PETA needs to get their head screwed on straight. This accident, while tragic, has no blame to be laid on the City of Atlanta for allowing horse-drawn carriages on city streets.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Yeah, that guy was in a suit with a briefcase, it was also around midnight of friday night. (just left a wonderful scouting meeting with a different team)

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

The driver was charged with violation of the open container law and driving with a suspended license. I think it should be clear what is to blame for this accident.

Some of the students from our team were very close too. In fact, there were so many people around that I am amazed (and so very thankful) that the only ones hurt were the ones in the car and the carriage. Our team continues to pray for those hurt -- especially the one who was listed in critical condition.

We pray also for those of you who witnessed this tragedy and for the emotional aftermath you are dealing with.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Fortunately, we had enough of our wits about us that we were able to warn away what appeared to be a group of mothers and their 8 to 10 year old-ish daughters (maybe an FLL team?) before they got to the top of the hill and came upon the accident. I'm glad we could at least do that much; as a Dad of daughters in that age range I can't begin to imagine the potential "emotional aftermath" there [shudder].

Cristy The Horse Is Getting An Early Retirement
 

All of the human victims including 3 Nebraska carriage riders are home recovering. Cristy the 7 year old horse is getting an early retirement and is being put out to pasture. She suffered only a scratch in the accident. The people were not as lucky and the 28 year old car driver is facing charges.
Dave

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

That accident was only a few feet from our hotel, and I am very glad to have not seen any of it. Watching the news that night was horrifying enough knowing there were teams and parents and mentors mere feet away from that terrible scene.

I hope the best for the folks hurt in the carriage and I'm glad the horse is okay and getting an early retirement.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

108 came through there soon afterward and saw the carriage carnage. We had to walk around it to get to Azio's where we were eating. We didn't know what happened, but someone on the team guessed that a car hit the carriage.

Re: When car and carriage collide
 

Thank you for the update on the carriage riders and on Cristy!


We had a man start to get on the elevator with us and then asked us to use our key card for his floor since he forgot it. The smell of alcohol was strong, so everyone in the elevator declined and he got back off. Everyone was quite relieved when the elevator door closed.