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True, those were some VERY disturbing photos. And as you said, there probably ARE a bunch of sickos out there who just came to look and marvel at the gore. But as a mother of a 15 year old who just got a learner's permit, I can't help but think that if posting these photos caused even ONE teen out there to stop and think...to absorb the reality of what one stupid moment of recklessness can do, and scare them out of ever wanting to attempt such a thing...then it was worth the backlash and controversy this police officer caused.

My oldest daughter, who is 22, recently lost a very dear friend of hers due to a car accident. The girl (only 20 yrs old) from what we understand, had been drinking, and was racing another friend on a rural road late one night. She lost control, the car rolled, and she was thrown from it, killing her instantly. She was a very beautiful aspiring singer with a lot of local fame, and was working to achieve some national fame with her talent. I look at these photos posted of that beautiful girl literally torn apart, and I can't help but think that if my daughter's friend had seen these photos, she wouldn't have done what she did that night a few months ago.

I feel horrible for Nikki's family, and what they must have felt to see these pictures. But, if they can possibly instill enough fear and caution to change the minds of any teens who think cars are just big fun toys, and the road is their playground or thrillseeking venue, then I would hope the Catsouras family can find a little solace in that.

God be with them.

wow...this is traggic, no one should have the right to show these pics! At least blirr her out so you can;t see her...she was so pretty and now look at her...that is crazy...it don't even come close to looking like Nikki...take these pics off...for her family's sake.

I WAS SO SICK WHEN I SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL DIE LIKE THIS HOW DARE THEM PUT THIS ON THE INTERNET WHO EVER GAVE THEM THE PICTURES SHOULD PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID BIG TIME I PRAY THE FAMILY DOSE NOT LOOK AT THIS THEY WILL NEVER SLEEP AT NIGHT IF THEY SEE THIS THIS I LOST MY SON IN A CAR CRASH BUT THE BOY WHO WAS DRIVING AT 140MPH IS SITTING IN JAIL WHILE MY SON IS IN THE GRAVE GOD BLESS THE FAMILY

Hey There!!..
I believe the pics to be the single most disturbing thing I have ever experienced in my life.The fact that they are posted on the net is a horrible shame and a horrific reminder to the family for the rest of their lives exactly what their daughter looked like at the time of her death. I, However, will say this: Great lesson for teens. If the pics are going to be posted, they should be there to serve a purpose. Parents should sit down with their teens who just received their licenses and show them these pics. I can guarantee you if 100 teens saw those photos, 95 of them would drive sensibly. Now,if you will excuse me, I need to make an appointment to see a therapist.

It's very sad what happened to the young girl. But it's reality and unfortunately people don't want to deal with it. When I was in junior high thirty five years ago we watched films such as "Signal 13" showing gruesome accidents. Well let me tell you it made an impact on my life. Not that I drove or always drive the speed limit but it's been in the back of my mind often enough to have made a difference in my driving habits. Apparently there is nothing the family can do to remove these images from the internet. Hopefully they can get beyond the pain and vendetta against CHP and turn their tragedy into a national/international campaign for drivers young and old to reassess their immortality while behind the wheel.

I really can't muster up a whole lot of sympathy for these parents....the girl had a history of making really awful decisions (as 18 year olds sometimes do) yet they let her drive this porsche - which she'd never driven before and with a real possibility of any bad decisions made this time by their daughter possibly causing the death of not only her but of innocent people who are doing the RIGHT thing. I feel the pictures should be circulated. Maybe other parents might get the wake up call Nikki's parents decided to ignore.

Hi,
You have justified your reasons for posting these pictures. I firmly agree with those reasons. If those images can prevent one teen or adult from making a similar mistake, then it was worth it. There is no need to justify your reasons further. As I stated, you made your intentions quite clear and seem decent.

Yes, as lovely as this girl was in the pictures her family has posted, I am certain the grief they feel over not only the loss of their daughter but also the missed opportunities to save her (long before the crash) also haunt them. Perhaps it is their own guilt- justified or not- which drives them to sue for damages.
Perhaps I am out of line for even saying that. - assuming that there is guilt. I don't know- this is a delicate situation. I wish no offense to anyone- especially the parents. And perhaps the officers had no right to leak the photos. Everyone - EVERYONE- should take responsibility for their actions and inactions for everything in life. And I'm sure the parents did everything they thought was right by their daughter.

But you are right- $20 million will not bring their beautiful daughter back. And sometimes there is only so much a parent can do.

And those who cannot even derive a lesson from these pictures ... of course everyone wishes this had never happened! Of course we feel for the family. BUT if ONE life can be turned around and something like this prevented... if ONE teen comes to their parent and says: "Thank you for showing me this. I'm never going to drive under the influence again of any controlled substance. Can you help me with this?"... if ONE upset young adult wants to go for a drive to blow off some steam but then quietly puts down their keys after these images flash thru their memory... then how can ANYONE say there is no lesson to be learned here?


Karma is a weird thing. And it is no one's business to judge someone else's karma. It is our own choices and fate that we have to contend with in our own personal ways. I do believe you have decent intentions for posting these pics. I had never heard of the story before seeing a lead in to it on MSN this morning. I have a friend that was killed by a drunk driver. I grieve every day. Thank goodness no one else was killed in this particular accident. It's still a shame a young girl's life was wasted and cut short, but if these pictures get through to another young adult, then maybe posting them was the right thing to do- karmically or otherwise.

I'd never even heard about the story/pictures until msn.com posted the story. I went looking for the pictures because everyone said I shouldn't. I'm sort of relieved they weren't easy to find and I didn't see them. I think the only person in the wrong here is the one that emailed the parents direct photos. The internet is full of things maybe we shouldn't look for but it's public and uncensored. Do we really want someone in control of what's posted on the net?

I am Iranian and I wanyed to know why your site has a RED button advertised to "blow up Iran". What did Iran do to the USA or Europe? Stop trying to occupy Middle East under the "pretext" of Israel (a state created by the secret Rothchild's to steal oil at cheap price). mark my words- "When the OIL is gone from MidEast- the "love" for Isreal not only will be GONE from the Rothchild'd of Europe but they are also "descendents" of the same HITLER family & you know what will come to get you- definitely not the God Fearing Muslims- but the DEVIL worshipping Super Rich- manipulators of MONET - the Rothcild'd.
There you go for "supporting" the destruction of Palestine b/c Iran- single handedly is DEFENDING the poor and abused by "fake jews" Palestine. REAL Jews do NOT want a State in the Mid East b/c GOD said- "do not gather together- for you will be destroyed"- & He the God will send the "Rothchild's" to destroy YOU guys (I know by your style- smooth lies- that you are a European Fake Jew.

Ed: just my ironic humour. You obviously don't get it. And your rant above is just that , a rant. Now press the button.

While I feel for the parents and believe the cop was wrong to release them it doesn't remove the parents responsibility in their daughters death. They raised her in a way that she thought it was her right to take her fathers car despite being told she couldn't and even when her mom was was trying to stop her. There has to be more to the story because this looks too much like suicide given the speed she was driving. Makes no sense. What a waste of a life.

What's the fuss all about? The pictures posted here (as of 05/06/09) are nothing to get excited about. There are no grisly images--you can go to a junkyard and see plenty of wrecked vehicles, and even though one realizes that people must have been seriously hurt, that doesn't make one sick or disturbed, does it? Perhaps a gut twinge or a bit unsettled if one dwells on it, but no actual harm. Those still giving wallyworld a hard time are oversensitive and grossly overreacting. I don't understand why media organizations would have a problem publishing photos that don't show the victim. Those wouldn't offend sensibilities, yet they convey the story and serve a purpose in informing and educating the public. I also think we as a society have gotten overly sqeamish about such things, tending to hide our heads in the sand rather than facing and accepting the reality around us, which isn't always pretty. We need to see more graphic images depicting severe poverty and the effects of war. That doesn't necessarily mean exposing children to disturbing images, but we also shouldn't lower the common denominator so that society hides behind that excuse.

It seems to me that these photos belong in the public domain, anyway. After all, this was taken by public officials documenting a crime that took place on public property that was in full view of the public. Shouldn't one be able to obtain such evidence under the FOIA? What if it was a private individual who had taken the photos? How can you prevent them from publishing them? You can't.

If Nikki was 18 and considered an adult at the time, what legal standing do her parents have to sue, anyway? I think her age also makes a critical difference in publishing these photos. Her mother describes her daughter as a teenager, which is technically true, but ignores or glosses over the fact that she was also an adult.

On the other hand, whoever emailed pictures of this accident to her family is one cruel, sadistic person whose sense of humor got misplaced. Otherwise, I seriously doubt that her family would have been exposed to these graphic images unless they searched them out.

However, it is wrong to blame the media or the internet when it was their daughter who broke the law, placing herself and others at grave risk. They need to accept that, above all, it was their daughter who is responsible for this sad state of affairs. No wild, reckless driving, no accident. No accident, no need for law enforcement to document it. In this instance, LAPD appears to have handled this violation of procedures agressively and has expressed remorse, apologizing to the parents. A salient point here is that it appears nobody involved in the LAPD was seeking any monetary gain. One could argue the lawsuit will help insure against future recurrances, but it seems unnecessary and likely to subject her family and relatives to only more grief.

As a parent, I am sorry for their loss and can empathize, and I am also generally opposed to turning tragedies (criminal or otherwise) into a media circus. Those who would unduly profit from such should donate that money to related worthy causes, or lose respect.

Hi, this is my first time hearing about this horrific crash myself due to lack of watching tv & paying attention to the news. It was just recently, that I've had my daughter that I started paying attention to whats going on in the world. I myself used to love to speed. I have owned a sports bike since the age of 16 and have done speeds up to 160 mph on it. I have slowed down after seeing fellow riders die or severely hurt from such & for the sake of my daughter as well. I am usually a very private person & believe some things should be left to the family alone. However, I want to thank you for posting these images. It shows young drivers like myself as well as any irresponsible driver that this can happen to any one at any time. Im very sorry for the loss of the Catsouras family & send my condolences, but again, I do thank you, the publisher of these photos for reminding all of us the tragedy that can and does happen for such instances.

well, on the one hand the photos serve as a gruesome reminder of what can happen if you drive irresponsibly and if I knew her i wish i could tell her how unworthy it is to speed, given what could and did happen to this girl. but on the other hand all anyone who knew her will ever remember when thinking about her are those terrible images, which is something i would never wish upon someone i care about. i admit i was curious, but when i saw the pics it made me sick to my stomach, this girl was irresponsible but doesn't deserve to be displayed in this horrible way.

Malcolm
Thank you for posting the pictures. Even though I could not find them on your site your site lead me to continue my search on the WWW and I found them. Not only did they scare the living shit out of me, but made me think how reckless I normally drive every day. I speed to work leaving with exactly the amount of time I know I need to get there. Instead now I will start leaving early. So that I don’t have to speed. These pictures where unreal.
Now side note, I do have to say I laughed my ass off reading some of the posts above... I really liked the one where the person was TYPING random WORDS like THIS hahahaha hilarious. Another one where I actually forgot what the fuck I was reading 3 times in the paragraph is was so fucking confusing. Where on earth are these people from and "Who learned them how to spoke" lol " "Learn to make communicate more effectively!"haha Thanks for being real and keep the www of information technology open and free!!!

Well again thanks I think, still kind of fucked up about that damn picture, but it helped me think.

I've a mind to post the two graphic decapitated body pictures again. But really...enough is enough. People will be abusing me on the phone next.

OK. So I understand why you left the pictures up. as a coutionary tale...I get it. But imagine if this was your child? did you know her parents were not allowed to see her because of how bad it was and a week later her father was sent these pictures in an email. did you know when she was young she had to under go radiation treatment for a brain tumor which caused damage to the part of her brain that controls rash desicion making. Did you know that she never had a fight with her father and her keys were not taken away. I just think that before you start writing all this information you should actually get it right. On top of that I belive that instead of posting them and saying "it's a coutiohary tale it's ok" maybe try respecting the wishes of her parents and writing them asking for permission to use some of them (not the grusome ones) in a website deidicated to highway saftey geared twords teenagers. just a thought

ED: try researching and checking YOUR facts. You're just swallowing the populist press beat-up. I couldn't even bother debating a dope like you.

I am sorry, but I really don't know what to say. why would anyone post pictures like that. at least you did not post the bad ones.

ED: then why are you even bothering to post?

I have been reading the transcript of the Catsouras crash. The parents had called 911 alleging that their drunken daughter was trying to get away in their car. The toxicology tests showed that she had nothing to drink. There is no evidence that she had a brain tumor and there is no DNA proof that the people claiming to be her parents are in any way related to her.

Trace elements of cocaine could not have been the result of concaine the night before. There would have been absolute proof in her system. Trace elements could be caused while attempting to run away from users.

The CHP, given the story of drunken driving, would have reason to take measures to stop the threat to public safety. Since the story of drunken driving was a hoax, the alleged parents should be held accountable for what ensued as a result of a false report to the CHP.

I started a search after reading about thing on cnn.com out of curiosity, considering that I, too, was a reckless young adult.After I came across the "other" pictures, I realized that it could've been me. When I was her age, I would disobey my parents, go out with my friends, get shitfaced drunk, black out and have no recollection of how I got anywhere. I was lucky... extremely lucky. I'm 25 years old, and I'm so grateful that I was able to wise up before it was too late.

It reminds me of the drunk driving commercial with the girl named Jacqui and the consequences of someone else's neglect and stupidity. A number of years back, it showed multiple times, everyday, for about a week. It was taken down, after. Why? Is it because parents couldn't handle what REALLY HAPPENS? I guess some people were too afraid to let their children/ teens see the reality of what could happen, yet they'd have no problem letting their children watch movies with disfigured characters as if it's just a movie thing.

I'm sorry that the parent's lost their little girl, but it goes to show that teenagers (like how I was) are not invincible. Unfortunately, there will be the ones who claim "It'll never happen to me." Hopefully, it never does, but then I'd be thinking unrealistically. I know I'll be looked at as terrible to say that they should put their feelings aside and take into consideration to put this out to try to save other parents or even children from heartache, and I truly feel that this should be out there. Not overly exploited like what the media is doing, but as a lesson to help teens, young adults as well as adults realize that they may not make it home one day.

You don't know this girl so who the hell are you to be posting these pictures of her?! These parents have been taunted by people e-mailing these pics to them! You say you're a parent of two? I KNOW you will sit there and say that you wouldn't have a problem with pics like these being posted all over the internet if it WERE ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN, but you'd be a damn liar! How the hell could you honestly say that unless it actually happened to you...YOU COULDN'T!!! I think you're a sick, fucked up person! And I know you wont post this because you wont want people to agree... I think along with having a lawsuit against the stupid ass cops that are responsible for it, these parents should be suing the hell out of inconsiderate fucks like you too!

ED: it's in the Public Domain. Has been for two and a half years. It comes under "Freedom of Information".