Tragedy strikes Georgia football team

NewPhoneWhoDis said:
Good lord. It is a miracle anyone survived this from the pictures. Unfortunately, I am guessing alcohol will be involved, because that car had to be going FAST to sheer a telephone pole in half like that.

Prayers to the families of all involved. Terrible tragedy for Georgia football family.
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Because the driver died they won’t know alcohol content until the autopsy.
 
WhosYourDawggy said:
JFC ... here are the facts as known:

- 4 people in what appears to be a UGAA black Ford Expedition that all the recruiters use. UGA has a whole fleet of these that are used to move the recruits around when they are on campus.
- This was a huge recruiting weekend for us ... had top recruits from 2023 and 2024 in town for the parade and celebration.
- Missed a turn at the top of a hill and went airborn.
- Front seat passengers dead - football player immediately, the driver at the hospital.
- Backseaters are in ICU at the hospital but expected to recover. FB player is McClendon, our RT who has declared for the NFL.
- Per reports, speed is an issue, alcohol is unknown.
- Per LEO who went to site: Going uphill on a five-lane road and came to a fairly sharp bend left. Appeared to have clipped the curb and gone airborne. No noticeable skid marks, but a 12–inch tree branch was seared off about 15 feet in the air and knocked 40 feet into the top of another tree. Other high branches clipped off. Power pole already replaced. Car came to a rest against an apartment close to the road and knocked out the door (now plywood).

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Using the school owed vehicles and operated by a school employee. UGA is going to have to pay some pretty substantial settlements, especially if the backseat guy’s draft status is screwed now, unless of course GA’s sovereign immunity laws are pretty strong.
 
jjc2009 said:
Using the school owed vehicles and operated by a school employee. UGA is going to have to pay some pretty substantial settlements, especially if the backseat guy’s draft status is screwed now, unless of course GA’s sovereign immunity laws are pretty strong.
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UGAA is not a governmental entity. They have insurance.

FWIW, Georgia has standard sovereign immunity laws, waived by the existence of insurance. Won’t come into play here
 
WhosYourDawggy said:
UGAA is not a governmental entity. They have insurance.

FWIW, Georgia has standard sovereign immunity laws, waived by the existence of insurance. Won’t come into play here
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Really? I would have thought the school is under the protection of the state. I thought they had a state Tort claim act but there are statutory caps. But if they’re not subject to that then they’re about to get dinged.
 
jjc2009 said:
Really? I would have thought the school is under the protection of the state. I thought they had a state Tort claim act but there are statutory caps. But if they’re not subject to that then they’re about to get dinged.
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The school is. But, all college football teams run most of their business through an athletic association. That's who raises all the money to pay coaches, improvements to facilities, etc. The UGAA is who owns those cars, employs all the employees, etc.

Tort caps typically only apply to punitive damages. Georgia had one for a brief period of time on general and specific damages, but they legislated that away. Also, many of those caps are waived for DUIs and other gross negligence.

Their insurance carrier is about to get dinged. That's why big time companies have big time insurance. No one will lose any sleep over it. There is also the chance that if the employee was not acting within the scope of her employment - let's say she was drunk, and was not supposed to have the car out after midnight, then the UGAA might get out of some liability. I hope they don't. I hope there is plenty of money for those hurt. Insurance is a good thing.

My wife and another couple were driving to Florida for vacation in the mid-90s. She had just taken over the driving when she was hit head on by a drunk driver, with one eye, flipped the car multiple times. The wife of our couple friend was thrown out and paralyzed waist down. My wife did nothing wrong other than the fact that she was exceeding the speed limit by 5 MPH. By Florida law, she was at fault. They hit us for the $300K in insurance, plus they hit my $1 million umbrella policy. We were totally glad to have the insurance carrier pay out for our friends.
 
The details are starting to come out. I had read that the first people on the scene were other players, our C Van Pran being the first on the scene. Here is a timeline and more details:

1. A number of people, players and support staff, were headed to Waffle House late in the evening (around 2am). Sounds like there were four cars.
2. Chandler LeCroy was driving a rental car, one she had used earlier in the day to transport recruits. She was likely not driving Devin Willock and McClendon in an official capacity at that time of night. The car left the road at a high rate of speed and hit a power pole, a light pole, and some trees, resting against an apartment complex. The apartment complex lost power. Tons of EMTs and Police converged on the scene. The police are still investigating and gathering facts.
3. Some of the folks were ahead and made it to WH, but then went back to find out what happened. Those trailing didn't see the accident but came upon it.
4. Willock passed on the scene. LeCroy passed away at the hospital.
5. Tory Bowles went to ICU. She is beaten up really badly. I heard she had cracked vertebrae and a collapsed lung. Others say she has broken ribs. Regardless, I have confirmed she suffered non-life-threatening injuries and will not need surgery. She will need a lot of care, though.
6. Warren McClendon suffered a cut to his face.
7. LeCroy's parents and Willock's parents were contacted and arrived in Athens by 6 a.m. Willocks mother had lost an older son to a car accident when he was 20 as well.
7. There was a team meeting at noon. Everyone in the program was there. Everyone except those who were on the scene that night. I was told "somber wouldn't even begin to describe it." Was the most emotional meeting my source has ever seen.
 
Per sources:

Dylan Raiola was supposed to be on the show this evening. However, he and his family are having a very hard time right now with the loss of Chandler LeCroy. They described her to me as someone they were "as close to as anyone in the Georgia program."

Several other recruits have commented on just how LeCroy was "such a good soul" and that she was "there for anyone that needed help." Former recruits that have committed and signed elsewhere even had.

As you pray for those impacted by this tragedy, remember the impact of Chandler LeCroy and the recruiting staff at Georgia is felt across the country. The accounts of LeCroy's joyful spirit and her being such a genuine person are inspiring yet heartbreaking all at the same time.

I pray for all those impacted by this tragedy.
 
Grant Ward said:
I may be wrong, but IMO, it paints a picture that the driver possibly had some drinks at the strip club prior to driving to Waffle House.
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Meh. Just as possible she was serving as the group’s DD.
 
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