Police believe the driver of a Volvo was speeding before running off Elmhurst Lane near Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth, Virginia (VA), and causing a one-car crash in which two teenaged girls lost their lives. The third person in the car at the time of the wreck, a 17-year-old boy, also suffered serious injuries a result of the collision with a telephone pole.
According to a Virginian-Pilot report on the August 12, 2011, wrck, the driver during the fatal traffic accident could not be immediately identified because both of the teens who had been in the car’s front seats were ejected from the vehicle.
WAVY.com: “Portsmouth Crash Kills Two Teens, Injures One”
As tragic as this accident was and will continue to be for the families and friends of the children injured and killed, the crash has important lessons to teach about remaining safe and, as the old ad put it, “arriving alive.” These lessons are particularly important for young and inexperienced drivers to take to heart.
The first is that drivers should obey posted speed limits at all times. As a rule, speed limits on surface roads are set with an eye to how fast a skilled driver in a well-maintained car or truck can drive without putting him- or herself and others at risk for an accident. The speed limit is usually set about 15 percent lower than that maximum safe rate of travel to provide a safety margin (and account for people’s tendency to want to go faster than allowed). So every mile per hour over the posted speed limit puts a motorist statistically that much closer to risking an crash.
Second, everyone in a car or truck, whether the person is driving, riding in the front seat or sitting in a rear seat, should wear his or her seat belt whenever the vehicle is in motion — and at stop signs and traffic light, since rear-end collisions can be as risky as any type of crash. People who wear seat belt properly rarely get thrown from their cars or trucks during accidents. At the same time, being ejected from a vehicle greatly increases the likelihood of head, neck and brain injuries and death.
You can learn other essential lesson by checking out our Virginia personal injury attorneys’ child and teen safety checklist.
EJL