Does this make them in any way to blame for their demise? All but one person were ejected from the vehicle upon the impact, which more than likely implicated them of not wearing a seat belt. Does this affect their share of the blame? Would they still be alive had they been wearing a restraint? There was one person who managed to remain in the vehicle afterwards, and physically, he only suffered a broken ankle. Emotionally, the cost may never be totally known.
Drinking has been proven to reduce person's inhibitions, and as such there are many laws attempting to prevent the access of alcohol to minors, however, all the persons involved made the deliberate effort to bypass these laws, successfully, and according to their blood alcohol content levels, were extremely intoxicated. One was over three times the legal limit, with the lowest level at 0.11 percent (with a state limit of 0.10 percent) and the drivers BAC level at 0.14 percent. Again, does this make any of the passengers responsible for what happened?.
One last item to note on the collision itself is the report that the passengers were rocking and swaying the vehicle, which would make a top heavy, SUV like the Chevrolet Suburban hard to handle. Are they responsible at all for what happened?.
On the other side of the matter, however, is Baxter had been drinking and should have been responsible enough to realize that he was too impaired to drive. He should have been mature enough to resist the pressure to get behind the wheel. If he knew he would be going somewhere, then he should have been responsible enough not to drink. He should have realized that the other occupants of his vehicle were under his care, and anything he did would affect them. "I thought I was in control." Baxter had said, but he should have realized that he wasn't in control of anything. But he didn't, and as a result, some people got hurt, others died.