Shaq Thompson Involved In Head on Collision

[manu4t]

This was just released on ESPN - sounds like he was just driving negligently, but also the other driver was not belted (also a citable offense). 

"Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson was cited with driving left of the centerline in a collision early Sunday morning that left former Duke quarterback Anthony Boone in a Charlotte hospital.

Thompson was not injured. Boone was transported to Carolinas Medical Center with serious but non-life threatening injuries. According North Carolina Trooper John Burgin, alcohol was in Thompson's system, but it was determined in a roadside test that Thompson was below the legal limit. Thompson was not taken in for further testing.

Burgin said Thompson stated he dropped his cell phone and was reaching down to get it when he crossed the centerline as the two approached from opposite directions on Potter Road in Weddington, North Carolina.

Burgin said both drivers swerved and collided. He said Boone was not wearing a seat belt and, from his understanding, suffered a broken pelvis and several broken ribs.

Thompson, the No. 25 pick of the 2015 draft, and Boone both live in the Weddington area but did not know each other. Panthers spokesperson Steven Drummond said Thompson notified the team of the accident and the team is aware alcohol was in the player's system."

[rb]

2 minutes ago, SmashNDash said:

While obviously Shaq was at fault because he crossed over the line, it sounds like the other drive tried to serve left(AKA into Shaq's lane) to avoid him, rather then swerving right?  Sounds like that is at some fault to the other driver as well, but would have to see pictures of the accident to see how far Shaq was into his lane and how much of a median there was on the side of the road.  Doesn't make sense to try and switch lanes with the other driver.

 

 

he was looking for a passing lane ?

[SmashNDash]

1 minute ago, rb said:

he was looking for a passing lane ?

I'm not sure what you mean.  All I know is in general, it makes logical sense to swerve the opposite direction of the incoming driver, not in the same direction as the incoming vehicle.

[iBBB]

1 minute ago, rb said:

he was looking for a passing lane ?

I guess you can say that Shaq gets in the way of all quarterbacks?

[Sam Mills Fan]

Does Shaq have kids? Weddington is a weird place for a guy his age to want to live.

[thunderraiden]

3 hours ago, EightyNine said:

The biggest concern about all of this is the time of day in which it occured..

Driving around at 7:45 AM with any alcohol in your system is a red flag.  Glad it wasnt more serious and that Shaq is fine.

He is still a kid.  He did something everyone does, so I'm not gonna put a label on him.. but you dont like to hear about this kind of stuff.  TD needs to give him a stern talking to..

Consider he had been drinking the night before and was up early to do something?

[outlaw4]

I just hope this is not a bad omen of things to come.

[KB_fan]

As long as Boone ends up ok, and Shaq (and other young players on the Panthers) learns needed lessons about road safety... one has to admit that the bizarre humor of an up and coming star LB colliding into a QB does lend itself to a lot of potential jokes.  There have been several good ones in this thread, and I confess I've chuckled (much to my dismay given that it doesn't quite seem decent!)

[manu4t]

3 minutes ago, SmashNDash said:

While obviously Shaq was at fault because he crossed over the line, it sounds like the other drive tried to serve left(AKA into Shaq's lane) to avoid him, rather then swerving right?  Sounds like that is at some fault to the other driver as well, but would have to see pictures of the accident to see how far Shaq was into his lane and how much of a median there was on the side of the road.  Doesn't make sense to try and switch lanes with the other driver.

 

 

Shaq was certainly at least partially at fault for taking his eyes off the road to pick up a cell phone, and got a citation for that. However, the other driver was not wearing a seatbelt and very well contributed towards his own injuries by failing to wear the belt (would depend on the mechanism of injury among other things) - NC has a contributory negligence standard so if he sues Shaq he may or may not get anything.  Unclear if the other driver had alcohol in his system, the priority was getting him to the hospital over doing a field sobriety test.

[SCP]

2 hours ago, Sam Mills Fan said:

I honestly don't know the answer to this: If you're in the backwater part of Weddington at 7am on a Sunday, can you even get an Uber? How long would it take?

You'd be stone sober by the time Uber arrived 

[The Lobo]

28 minutes ago, outlaw4 said:

I just hope this is not a bad omen of things to come.

Meaning he will use his cell while driving or is this about character? His character should my come into question over this. He used his cell while driving which I'm sure you probably have, and he got in a wreck. He will learn from this.

[Your Creeper Cabbie]

Cabs run 24 hours. Uber gottta get the kids ready for church. I'd would have been there while he was still legally drunk.

[Davidson Deac II]

I bet his car had one of those hands free bluetooth sytems that connects the cell to the car.  If so, there wasn't a point in going after the cell unless he was afraid of stepping on it.  Hopefully, he does learn his lesson. 

[Cookie Lyon]

3 hours ago, PhillyB said:

since everyone is ok i feel safe saying i hope this is just an omen from the football gods that he'll be running over quarterbacks all season

LOL!