Teen Driving Fatality
As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney, whenever I see an automobile accident during which the driver or a passenger is ejected from the vehicle, I can say with some certainty that the person was not wearing his or her seat belt. So was the case of a recent fatality in East Tennessee when a 17-year-old driver failed to yield to an oncoming vehicle as he pulled onto a busy thoroughfare.
According to media reports, a vehicle driven by a 17-year-old entered an intersection and failed to yield. The other vehicle slammed directly into the passenger side of the teen’s vehicle. The 15-year-old passenger was ejected and died at the scene. It appears that the 17-year-old driver had already shown that he was not capable of driving on the highways and byways of Tennessee, having already had his drivers license suspended. Police also suspect that he had been consuming alcohol and are awaiting blood-alcohols results. The driver of the other car was wearing her set belt and was also injured.
What could the unlicensed driver been doing that distracted him from seeing the oncoming car? Revoking or suspending a driver’s license is a common penalty for many traffic infractions, including those related to impaired driving. Unfortunately, many offenders continue to drive despite a license suspension or revocation. It is not unusual for drivers with suspended licenses to receive additional traffic citations or to be involvedin crashes when their licenses have been suspended.
A recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety takes an interesting look at teen driving fatalities. 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 2008, about 3,500 teens in the United States aged 15–19 were killed and more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes. 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.
The study took a slightly different look at teen crash fatalities. When we consider all crashes involving 15- to 17-year old drivers we find that, on the average, nearly two individuals are killed for every teen driver killed. Government statistics typically quantify the number of teen drivers and their passengers who have died in motor vehicle crashes. This report investigates the number of people, other than the teen driver, who have died in crashes involving young drivers, such as teen drivers’ passengers, drivers and passengers of other vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
The report reveals the extent of fatalities among other road users: nearly two other individuals are killed for every teen driver killed. As teen driver deaths have declined during recent years, though, there has been a large drop in deaths of other road users. So, although teen crashes put everyone at risk, everyone stands to benefit from safety improvements that reduce teen driver crashes.
An experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney will look carefully at the circumstances surrounding the ownership of the teen’s vehicle. Did someone other than the teen own the car, the parents maybe? Did he have permission to take the vehicle? Did the parents take any and all steps to make sure the boy couldn’t take the car out onto the road? These and other questions are the reason that that if you are involved in a Tennessee car crash caused by a driver like this young man, you will want an experienced team of experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys like those at Phillip Miller & Associates.
