A young woman died as a passenger in a single-car accident last weekend near Hampstead, North Carolina. The woman was traveling to Wilmington with her best friend behind the wheel. They were driving south on U.S. 17 when the 2011 Hyundai Accent ran off the road and rolled over near the intersection with North Carolina 210.
The woman, who was not wearing her seat belt according to NC Highway Trooper Cutler, was partially ejected from the car and died at the accident scene. She was just 20 years old.
The driver, also a 20-year-old woman, has been charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.
In the wake of her death, the woman’s twin brother has launched a Twitter campaign to try to persuade rapper Drake to perform at her funeral. The brother says this was his sister’s dream, and he hopes he can honor her memory by fulfilling it. WECT.com reported that by the end of the day after the fatal accident, the hashtag her brother created on Twitter was the top trending hashtag worldwide.
To lose a sibling so young is a tragedy, but I can imagine that losing a twin sibling is particularly painful because of the special bond that can only really be explained by other twins. I am deeply sorry for this brother and his family’s loss, and I hope his efforts culminate in a memorial he feels honors his sister’s memory.
The investigation in this case is not complete, so at this point police don’t know what caused the accident. Statistically, distracted driving is a major cause of fatal accidents for younger drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, drivers in their 20s account for 26% of all distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes. If the investigation does reveal that distracted driving caused this accident, perhaps the social media campaign launched by the victim’s brother will raise awareness about the risks of distracted driving and prevent another young person from being the victim of a fatal car accident.
AM