A 16-year-old girl lost her life this past weekend after she reportedly lost control of her vehicle and was struck by two oncoming vehicles. The crash happened when she went though the median and through the cable-wire barrier of the Interstate. State police are still investigating the accident. They have concluded that the teen driver was not wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash.
These accidents are not uncommon among our teen drivers. Teens are more vulnerable for a car accident in Tennessee and elsewhere because of their lack of driving experience. They’re also more likely to participate in distracted driving behaviors and to ignore roadway rules and regulations.
Our Maryville personal injury attorneys would like to warn teens and parents about the increased risk of motor-vehicle accidents during the summer months. With prom, graduation and summer break approaching, teen drivers will be hitting our roadways in full force. It is no surprise that these months provide the 100 most dangerous days for teen drivers on our roadways.
An autopsy on the teen driver indicated the she died “as the result of neck and chest trauma,” according to the coroner’s office. Routine toxicology testing will be conducted in order to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash,
The father of the teen driver is responding to reports and articles that claim that his daughter was on the phone right before the accident.
“She was not texting and talking on her phone,” said Barry Budwell, the teen’s father. “That’s the first thing I have to hear about, and that’s wrong.”
After analyzing crash data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Allstate Foundation discovered that May 20 is the deadliest day for teens on our roadways. This day took the lives of 63 percent more teen lives than average over the past five years.
Because of the increased traffic of teen drivers in the summer, May through August prove to be most deadly. There are 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day that have bee coined as the deadliest for teen drivers.
Data from the IIHS also concludes that roughly 60 percent of teen passenger deaths occur in vehicles that are driven by another teen. Other studies concluded that more than 75 percent of teens confess that they feel unsafe while riding with another teen driver.
Motor-vehicle accidents continue to be the number one cause of death for teens in the United States. These accidents take more lives than cancer, heart disease and AIDS altogether. Every year, roughly 6,000 teens die in traffic accidents. This means about 16 teens die because of car accidents every day. More than 300,000 teens suffer injuries from these accidents every year. Overall, teens are involved in three times are more fatal accidents than any other age group of drivers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 158 teens died in Tennessee traffic accidents in 2009 alone.
If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a car accident in Tennessee, contact Hartsoe Law Firm, P.C. for a confidential appointment to discuss your rights with our Knoxville injury lawyers and Maryville accident attorneys. Call (877) 472-5657.
More Blog Entries:
Three High School Teens Die in Tennessee Traffic Accident, Tennessee Injury Attorney Blog, May 20, 2011
Teens More Likely to Text and Drive Causing Increased Risk for Knoxville Car Accidents, Tennessee Injury Attorney Blog, March 24, 2011