ELIZABETHTON — The Tennessee Highway Patrol has identified the 16-year-old driver who was killed in a Sunday afternoon crash on Smalling Road.
Trooper Noah Click said Daniel G. Mullins, Johnson City, was driving a 1989 Buick around 1 p.m. and was negotiating a curve a high rate of speed.
Click said Mullins lost control of the car and it went off the road. The car struck a utility pole at 793 Smalling Road. The posted speed on that section of road is 35 mph.
There were no passengers in Mullins' vehicle and no other cars were involved. Click said Mullins was wearing a seat belt.
The accident remains under investigation.
arby2003 writes:
November 26, 2012
9:46 AM
It seems that this tragic story has been repeated time after time over the years. I suppose there is no solution to this problem in our society. How sad.
luvoldvws writes:
November 26, 2012
9:49 AM
nice young man, happy valley warrior wrestling team.wrestled with my son. we came up on this wreck before sheriff or emer. he did not suffer, it was instant. so sad and what a loss. always a warrior
privatetwo writes:
November 26, 2012
11:09 AM
arby2003, there is nothing that can be done. Parents give too much freedom to children this age. This is a really sad loss of life and an unnecessary one. My heart goes out to the parents.
boo writes:
November 26, 2012
12:09 PM
Privatetwo- Dont start blaming the parents for giving too much freedom to the teen. It happened at two pm not two am.. This young man was a friend of my brothers. He was a good kid. This accident had nothing to do with his parents giving him to much freedom. His parents are heartbroken. These things can happen to anyone. And it is very sad, but we dont need to point the blame at the parents.
AryanLadtheSecond writes:
November 26, 2012
12:46 PM
How utterly horrible. Sincerest condolences to his family.
angela67 writes:
November 26, 2012
3:07 PM
I am Daniel's aunt and he is a wonderful young man. Do not blame this accident on the parents, they did everything they could do to teach him safty while he was learning to drive. 90% of teenagers are going to speed when they are behind the wheel by themselves. Daniel was on his way home from visiting with his sister and niece, this was just a tragic accident. Instead of blaming the parents why not pray for the family to make it through this difficult time.
SovereignAxe writes:
November 26, 2012
3:43 PM
I've driven Smalling Road many times myself. The whole thing can be pretty dangerous due to many blind curves, and the area around Jim Buck Rd especially.
The best thing you can do is educate your teen as best you can about vehicle dynamics and road safety and make sure they always wear a seat belt. You can't nanny them all the time-especially when they start driving on their own.
rhon0311 writes:
November 26, 2012
9:20 PM
Totally agree, this has nothing to do with bad parenting. It happened in the middle of the day! Youth today feel they are invincible. We can put their feet in the right path, but even teens make choices, and more important, we cannot control our destinby from our maker. My heart goes out to the parents....you were doing the best you could do at any given time.....hope that brings you piece!
tenngirl1 writes:
November 27, 2012
7:18 AM
How tragic and sad. My heart goes out to this family along with lots of prayers. And rhon0311, you are right, our destiny is not controlled by us but by our maker. May God give this family peace and comfort.
johndee writes:
November 28, 2012
8:05 AM
my son is getting ready to start to drive you can only pray for them god bless his parents I feel bad for theyre loss its scarry to send them out
arby2003 writes:
November 28, 2012
8:11 AM
I don't think privatetwo was blaming the parents just expressing a fact about our society as it truly is. On the other hand I just read an article about a study that determined that no matter how good the parenting is the major influence in a teens life comes from his peers. That always has and always will be true.and teens are reckless no matter how good they are as a human being. Most of us survived our teen years only by the grace of God.
OffTheChain13 writes:
November 29, 2012
4:51 PM
arby2003 has a hell of a point
trishmullins writes:
December 21, 2012
9:53 PM
Directed to "privatetwo" ::
The parents are not to blame in this tragic loss. Danny was my brother-in-law, I have been in the family for over five years. He was a great young man. This crash happened at 1pm, not 1am. He was going to a friend's house after he left his older sisters. His parents did not give him too much freedom. He was not texting, eating, drinking, making a call, or doing anything while driving. He was speeding. Something we are all guilty of. I am sure you speed all the time and don't think about it. I do. He just couldn't take the curve. He was young and never thought it would impact him this way. Our family is in deep mourning and will never get over this loss. It has been nearly a month and a moment doesn't go by when I do not think of him. Or think about his laugh. Or his smile. Or his jokes. I am grateful I had the opportunity to know him, to love him. Before you open your mouth, think about all the stupid things you have done while driving in the past week whether it was talking on the phone, speeding, or chowing down on your big mac. Noone is perfect so before you start judging people by the speck in their eye, remove the log from your own eye. Your comment makes me sick. Please respond :)
Sincerely,
Trish Mullins
provided.