A teen has died and three others have been injured in a recent car accident in southeastern Massachusetts. According to NECN, the accident happened at about 9:00 p.m. when the teen lost control of his vehicle slammed into a telephone pole in Kingston and flipped several times.
Paramedics and emergency response teams showed up to the scene of the accident to find two of the occupants seriously injured. They were both flown to Boston. The other two in the vehicle were transported to South Shore Hospital. Officers haven’t determined if drugs or alcohol played a role in this accident, but they do feel that speed was a cause.
“They observed a telephone poll that had been sheered, they also observed a tree that had been hit approximately 12 feet off the ground and there was a vehicle alongside the tree,” said Chief Joseph Rebello.
Our Kingston car accident attorneys understand the risks that teens face behind the wheel. They’re not equipped with much experience behind the wheel and therefor are in serious danger for a potentially fatal accident.
In 2004, there were nearly 300 car accidents involving 15-year-old drivers, more than 4,000 involving 16-year-old drivers, nearly 9,500 involving 17-year-old drivers and another 8,750 involving 18-year-old drivers. And that’s only in the state of Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
One of the main reasons that these drivers are getting into so many car accidents is because they do not abide by the state’s passenger restrictions. In the state of Massachusetts, drivers who have a restricted driver’s license are not allowed to have any passengers younger than 18 in their vehicle for the first six months. From 12:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. and from 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. these laws are only secondarily enforced. This means that an officer has to witness them breaking another road law before they can be pulled over and cited for having too many young passengers in the vehicle with them, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). These passenger restrictions are lifted once a driver hits the age of 17-years-old.
In the state of Massachusetts, there were more than 20 teenage drivers who were killed in car accidents in 2010. There were more than 10 passengers in these young drivers’ vehicles who were killed in these same accidents.
National Teen Driver Statistics:
-About 40 percent of teen fatalities are the result of a traffic accident.
-In 2010, there were close to 2,000 drivers who were killed in these accidents.
-There were nearly 200,000 teenage drivers injured in traffic accidents in 2010.
-Teenage drivers have a higher risk for a car accident than drivers in any other age group. Per mile driven, they’re actually four times more likely to get into an accident than an older driver.
-Teenage drivers account for about 10 percent of the country’s population, but accounted for about 15 percent of the motor vehicle accident fatalities.
If you or your teenage has been injured or killed in a car accident, contact Jeffrey S. Glassman for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your case. Call 877-617-5333.
More Blog Entries:
Boston Teen Driving: New App Keeping An Eye on Young Drivers, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, August 29, 2012
Red Stickers: The Answer to Teen Car Accident Risks in Massachusetts?, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, August 15, 2012