Woman Arraigned in Deadly Accident Highlights Teen Driving Risks
According to the Hartford Courant, a 19-year-old Connecticut woman was recently arraigned on two counts of manslaughter for an accident that occurred in South Windsor. The 19-year-old is allegedly responsible for causing the death of two passengers in her vehicle: a 15-year-old sophomore and an 18-year-old senior. 
Our Hartford accident lawyers know that car accidents are the leading causes of death for teen drivers. Unfortunately, it appears that this car accident exemplified virtually all of the dangerous behaviors that put teens at such high risk of dying in auto accidents.
Deadly South Windsor Crash May Have Been Caused by Dangerous Driving Behavior
In June of this year, our Hartford accident lawyers discussed the accident that led to the new filing of manslaughter charges, indicating that it occurred at a dangerous South Windsor spot. At the time immediately following the crash, the father of one of the victim’s had spoken out and said that he himself had been an accident at the same location decades earlier. While a bump in the road was suspected of being the cause of the crash, the accident was still being investigated.
Now, however, the Hartford Courant has reported much more information on the crash and the information seems to suggest that there were a great many dangerous choices made that led to the accident.
According to the Courant, the driver was speeding along Abbe Road in order to try to get the “roller-coaster feeling” as the car went over a hill. The 19-year-old woman on trial for the accident said that the other passengers in the car were urging her to go fast and that she saw the speedometer was over 80 miles per hour prior to the accident. Police estimate that the vehicle was going as fast as 84 to 90 miles per hour although the speed limit was just 30 miles-per-hour on that road.
The driver also reportedly had the radio blasting at the time of the accident and witnesses indicate that they had seen her smoking marijuana prior to getting in the car and driving.
When nearby local residents came to offer aid at the accident scene, the woman who is on trial for the crash reportedly told them that she thought she killed her friends. When they asked her why she had sped up, her answer was, “They [her friend’s] told me to. They kept telling me to go faster.”
Teen Behavior May be High Risk
This accident perfectly illustrates three key risk factors for teen drivers: speeding, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and having too many passengers in the car.
For young people, having multiple passengers in the vehicle can significantly increase the chances of an accident happening. This is why so many states have instituted graduated licensing laws, limiting the number of passengers who can be in the car at one time. With multiple passengers, kids may be more likely to do incredibly dangerous things like the behavior that allegedly led to this crash. Limiting the number of passengers in the car at one time can reduce the chances of this occurring and help to avoid tragedy.
If you were injured in a car accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli, by calling 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.