A 14-year-old girl was killed after a serious accident Tuesday morning. According to an article on KSL’s website, a sixteen-year-old girl and child were also injured in the crash. The crash occurred at 12600 S. 2700 West around 7 a.m. The two lanes heading east were closed for nearly two hours as the police cleared the scene. The roads were later reopened around 10 a.m. Tuesday, Fox 13’s website reported that the teenage girl had died from her injuries and the young child was still in serious condition following the crash.
The Fox 13 article reported that Unified Police Department officer, Ken Hansen said that the accident happened when a yellow Volkswagen Beetle was heading west and it crashed with a Subaru that was heading east. The 16-year-old who later passed away from injuries was the driver of the Beetle. The other teenager and the child were riding in the same vehicle. Those in the Subaru were not injured. The exact cause of the accident is still unknown.
Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim. Unfortunately, teen accidents happen far more often than they should. According to numbers given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2015, 2,333 teens were killed in an accident, and another 235,845 were treated in an emergency room for a severe injury. This translates to six teens killed every day in a crash across the United States.
Similarly, teens make up a disproportionate percentage of the total costs for accidents. In 2013, according to the CDC, teens made up around seven percent of the population, but they accounted for 11 percent ($10 billion) of total costs for car accident injuries. Teens also have a higher risk of being involved in an accident than any other group. Per mile driven, teens are three times more likely than a driver aged 20 to be involved in a crash. Male teens particularly are almost two times more likely to be involved in an accident than their female counterparts.
As mentioned earlier, we do not know the precise cause of this accident; however, it meets many of the criteria risk factors for teens while driving. For example, not only does the teen driver fall into the more risk-prone category, but also, teens driving with other teen passengers increase the risk of a crash when unsupervised. The risk factor actually increases with each teen added to the car.
Now, we are not saying that adding a teen to the car causes an accident, instead, adding another teen to the vehicle could contribute to behavior which makes it more likely that a crash will occur. According to the CDC, teens are more inclined to underestimate a dangerous situation. Teens are also more likely to speed than older drivers.
We were sorry to hear the news concerning the death of the 14-year-old passenger in this story. Initially, when drafting this story, the teen was still in critical condition. We were sorry to hear that she had passed. To help prevent something like this from happening again, we would like to share the following safety tips given by the CDC to help teens understand the eight danger zones for teens while driving:
- Driver inexperience
- Driving with teen passengers
- Nighttime driving
- Not using seat belts
- Distracted driving
- Drowsy driving
- Reckless driving
- Impaired driving
Recognizing these risks and making the appropriate preparations to avoid problematic driving situations can help teen drivers avoid common mistakes that lead to devastating accidents. We want to help everyone do everything possible to prevent an accident. If you have any questions about a specific accident, contact The Advocates Law Firm. You deserve an Advocate!