Teen Collisions

He was 16 and had no license or insurance but that didn’t stop the young man from getting behind the wheel of his 1993 Dodge Voyager and taking to the streets of Church Hill Tennessee. According to an article on the website of the Johnson City Press he made a turn directly into the path of a car driven by Janet W. Christian, 69, and her passengers Thomas Christian, 69 and Annie Salyer, 53, who were driving to morning service at the at the First Baptist Church. They were transported to a local hospital with injuries related to the airbag deployment. My heart goes out to these victims of a crime that should not have happened.

The young man was uninjured and was cited for driving without a license, failure to provide proof of insurance and failure to yield. His guardian told police that the boy had taken the car without permission. This young man was very lucky he wasn’t a fatality statistic.

According to The Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. In 2005, twelve teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries. The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash. In 2005, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 16 to 19 was more than one and a half times that of their female counterparts.

In the United States during 2005, 4,544 teens ages 16 to 19 died of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes. In the same year, nearly 400,000 motor vehicle occupants in this age group sustained nonfatal injuries that required treatment in an emergency department.

Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.

These situations create a serious problem for victims. The offending driver has no insurance and they have to rely on their own policy to compensate them for their medcial and hospital expenses as well as any permanent injuries they might have sustained. This kind of case calls for an experienced automobile accident attorney to explore the possibility of an action against the Guardian for failing in his/her responsibility to prevent the child from gaining access to the vehicle.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville automobile accident involving a teenager contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and take advantage of a free consultation to find out about your rights and remedies.