Many teenagers are eager to receive their driver’s licenses. Not only is it a rite of passage for many kids, it’s a ticket to more freedom. No longer do teenagers with their own licenses have to depend on their parents or friends to drive them around; now they can be more self-sufficient. Of course, that freedom comes with responsibilities; teenage drivers are notorious for being poor drivers. Indeed, the car accident rate for teen drivers remains unacceptably high, even with the warnings that adults dole out on a regular basis.
Sadly, New Jersey residents received another reminder of this recently when a 17-year-old high school student died in a one-vehicle crash in Wayne. The boy was a passenger in a his friend’s vehicle when it crossed over the center line and struck a van. The boy died, but his friend survived. According to reports, the car’s driver had received his license to drive only a few days before the accident.
Police said that the driver of the car lost control of his vehicle at an intersection, just before it hit the van. It wasn’t clear what led the boy to lose control of the car or how fast he was going, but it was sufficient to cause a fatal accident.
As a result of the crash, the family is grieving the loss of one of their own. Family members whose relatives are fatally injured in accidents through no fault of their own often consult with experienced car accident injury attorneys to help them in what can be a difficult time.
Source: NJ.com, “Wayne Valley HS students mourn loss of classmate killed in car crash,” James Kleimann, April 5, 2014