Eleven injured in Escambia County car accident on Sunday evening
June 01, 2015On behalf of Terence Gross of Gross & Schuster, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.
A teen driver caused a car accident on Sunday that resulted in injuries to 11 people, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. While all 11 people involved in the accident were sent to the hospital, the FHP characterized all of the injuries as minor.
The car accident occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 20. A 17-year-old girl from LaPlace, Louisiana, was driving a Chevy headed eastbound on Nine Mile Road in Cantonment. At Pine Forest Road, the teen driver apparently made a left turn in front of a Ford sport utility vehicle that was headed westbound. The Chevy collided with the SUV and was sent spinning across the roadway.
The Chevy came to a stop in the westbound lane of Nine Mile, facing south. The Ford SUV was forced into a ditch on the north shoulder of westbound Nine Mile.
The Chevy driven by the Louisiana teen contained the girl and three passengers. The Ford SUV, driven by a 52-year-old man from Gonzalez, Louisiana, was carrying six passengers in addition to the driver. All eleven people were injured in the wreck.
The FHP cited the teen driver with a right-of-way violation for crossing traffic to make a turn before the way was clear.
Car accident risk for drivers aged 16 and 17 increases with the number of teen passengers
Teen drivers are especially prone to car and truck accidents when carrying multiple passengers. According to the CDC, the presence of teen passengers in a car driven by someone 16 or 17 years of age increases the risk of a car accident, and that risk increases with each additional teen passenger.
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of deaths for people between the ages of 16 and 19 in the U.S. Teen drivers of that age are four times more likely to be involved in a car accident than older drivers.
In 2009, eight teens died every day, on average, from motor vehicle accident injuries.
Sources:
- Pensacola News Journal, “11 injured in crash; teenager gets ticket,” March 21, 2011
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet”
