Responsibility for Rave Deaths

Re “Promoter Says Forest Service Knew Event in Mountains Was a Rave,” Sept. 1: The jurisdiction of responsibility for the deaths of five teenagers who plunged to their death after departing a rave party in the Angeles National Forest began and ended in the vehicle in which they perished.

That relatives of these unfortunate teenagers seek to place the blame for this unfortunate tragedy on event promoters and Forest Service officials says volumes about the unwillingness of citizens to take personal responsibility for their actions--and of attorneys who exploit this moral cowardice.

There was a time in America when parents taught their children honesty, integrity and accountability--then held them responsible for these values. That one of these hapless children was an honors student is truly ironic.

TYLER ST. MARK

Beverly Hills

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The U.S. Forest Service’s disavowals about the rave party wear thin when measured against its obvious experience with the same kinds of events in the recent past. It was a mere three weeks ago that, while returning from a weekend of hiking, I witnessed an appalling sight along an otherwise pristine stretch of Angeles Crest Highway. Litter that included empty beer cans, broken glass, fast-food containers and discarded flyers identical to the ones photographed in your story was strewn along a two-mile stretch of highway adjacent to Kratka Ridge--site of the Snowcrest ski resort.

The policy that now requires visitors to purchase a $30-per-year Adventure Pass for the privilege of using the Angeles National Forest was instituted, in part, to defray the agency’s expenses for managing and maintaining its mandate. It certainly didn’t need to pander to a disreputable group of partygoers for an additional $2,880. Had it used better judgment, not only would the forest itself have been spared, but a senseless tragedy would have been averted.

DAVID KOEPPEL

Los Angeles

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Five teenagers died in a tragic automobile accident on Angeles Crest Highway on the way back from a rave. I feel nothing but sorrow for the victims and their families. However, I cannot support the scapegoating of raves in general for their deaths.

Having gone to a number of raves over the past three years, I feel the vilification of raves comes from fear and misinformation. I was at JujuBeats (sober) from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m. and it, like all good raves I have attended, was all about dancing and music.

I feel that it is unfortunate that many feel the need to alter their experiences with drugs, but I recognize that drug use is not specifically tied to raves but to youth and experimentation. In my experience, promoters do nothing to promote anything but the event itself, and most flyers clearly state that drugs and alcohol will be confiscated.

Parents ought to be concerned at all times about the safety of their children, but in our struggle to find a meaning for a tragedy we cannot blame a rave for an automobile accident because it was just that, an accident.

JONATHAN MARTIN

Valley Glen