Aaditia and Patricia Beer were charged with unlicensed operation of a vehicle for allegedly letting their son Joseph drive their car without a license, the NY Post reported.
Joseph only had a permit on the night of Oct. 8 when he allegedly crashed the car he and his four friends were in. The sole survivor, Joseph, is now facing 25 years in prison for a number of charges related to the crash and the deaths of his friends.
It was allegedly discovered that Joseph not only drove at up to 110 mph, but also that he was alleged to have been under the influence as a blood sample taken after the crash tested positive for marijuana.
With the learner's permit, Joseph should have had a licensed driver in the car and should never have been driving at the late hour of the crash. A permit does not allow for driving between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Patricia Beer's response to the NY Post surrounding the charge against her and her husband was "It’s not like we give him the key and say, ‘Go kill somebody.’"
It's a given that neither Joseph nor his parents ever anticipated or wanted anything like this to happen.
The young lives of Chris Khan (18), Peter Kanhai (18), Darian Ramnarine (18) and Neal Rajapa (17) were lost. Nothing can undo the outcome of the events that took place that night.
As parents, especially of teens going into adulthood, it is important to continue to be an authoritative figure to your kids.
That's not to say that Aaditia and Patricia Beer are to blame for what has transpired. We all know that we cannot have total control of our kids all of the time, especially when they are teens going into adulthood.
When your kids are young, it is clear that you, the parent, are responsible for thier actions.
If they hit someone, you make sure to resolve the situation and have them apologize. You check on the other child and apologize to the parent as well.
If they break something that belongs to someone else, you are responsible for repairing the object and even replacing it if necessary.
The question becomes, at what age are parents no longer responsible for the actions of their children?
Joseph is a 17-year-old that crashed his parents car and killed four of his friends. No parent can predict that such an occurrance will happen.
But it is the responsibility of the parents to maintain safety and to teach kids to follow rules.
There is no easy answer here. Four teens are dead and one is in jail with the possibility of spending many more years there.
Some would say that the charge that Joseph's parents are facing are minimal given the possible 15 day jail sentence and $300 fine.
The fact remains that nothing will bring back those that have lost their lives. The best thing that can be done in a situation like this is to learn from the mistakes that led to that deadly crash.
