A car crash early Wednesday in Washington State resulted in one death. Two young girls and their mother were in the car when the wreck happened. A daring act of bravely caused the two children to survive the wreck when the 4-year-old pulled her younger sister out. Police believe the driver fell asleep behind the wheel. The children stayed at the crash site for nearly six hours before a passerby spotted them, according to news reports.
Category Archives: Accident Investigation
Virginia Man Arrested for Pedestrian Fatality
A 21-year-old Virginia man was arrested Wednesday for a Dec. 24 accident that killed a pedestrian in Nokesville.
Police say the driver ran a red light and lost control, causing him to spin out and hit a 30-year-old woman standing on the sidewalk. The driver is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Read more here: Man Arrested for Fatal Pedestrian Accident on Christmas Eve
Man Sentenced to Five Years for Vehicular Homicide
A 31-year-old was sentenced to almost five years in prison due to driving distracted and rear-ending a car, resulting in the death of a 10-year-old boy. The wreck happened along State Route 93 in Ohio. The crash caused the victim’s car to get pushed into the opposing lane of traffic and colliding head-on with a car. The suspect was looking at a text massage when the wreck happened. He plead guilty to one count of vehicular homicide and three counts of aggravated vehicular assault, according to news reports.
Elderly Driver Smashes into Family
An elderly driver lost control of his Mercedes and veered off the roadway in London. A father walking with his wife and child had just enough time to push his child out of the way. The 83-year-old driver was treated for minor injuries. The accident remains under investigation and police have not made any arrests as of yet. The mother was bending over to talk to her son when the driver collided into them. Messages and flowers were left at the site of the collision, according to news reports.
Tractor-Trailer Collides on Hwy. 49
Drivers are reminded to remain careful while driving along Highway 49 in Craighead County, Arkansas. On Sunday night, a truck collided with a tractor-trailer, causing traffic to come to a stop. The number of accidents in this area have increased recently after the speed limit rose to 60mph. One resident mentioned there are many sirens that sound near her home. She lives close to Hwy. 49. The speed limit rose from 55 to 60, resulting in many accidents. Local residents advise drivers to slow down and keep their attention on the roadway, according to news reports.
Police Crashes Investigated for Distractions
Collisions involving police officers using dashboard mounted computers while they drive are under investigation by authorities. Police in Arlington were involved in 18 crashes over the span of three years. They were minor collisions, and the mayor of the city said their police were trained in typing while driving at the time same time, so he had no problem with their use of dashboard computers. During one crash, a driver was waiting at a stoplight when an officer making a left turn rear-ended her vehicle. Her three-year-old daughter was in the back seat at the time of the wreck, which was thankfully low-speed and did not lead to any injuries. However, this could easily have been much worse. “I was looking right at him the whole time and he wasn’t looking and I did this”, she said waiving her arms. “I started doing this like don’t hit me,” Holland said. “Anybody I told it to were like what? Arlington Police Department? Yes, Arlington Police Department they hit my car.”
The officer told investigators he was typing while glancing down at his mobile data computer. It was a low-speed collision, thankfully. Other videos were obtained showing police cars colliding with other vehicles while at intersections. One officer is shown rear-ending a vehicle, while another is making a left-turn in from of an SUV with two young children inside. The driver sustained minor injuries. Another officer driving 40 miles per hour drove through a barricade on a dead-end street. An officer was asked how distracted he thinks the officer had to be to drive through a barricade. “Well I think the concept of distracted driving is that your eyes are diverted from the roadway and depending upon how long your eyes are averted coupled with the speed of the vehicle can translate to an accident occurring,” said Johnson.
After a departmental review of auto accidents, it was discovered they were supplying the mayor with the wrong information about the number of wrecks. Investigators checked with him to see if that changed his mind. “Not really. No,” he said. “All the information I got came from the police,” he said. “I can’t remember what number I used but apparently it’s wrong if we had that many but it doesn’t change my view at all. Not at all.” The Police Chief says he is changing the written policy of the department so they pull over if they need to type in anything more than a simple command that only involves pushing one button, according to news reports.
Driver Arrested for 7-Car Crash
After a seven-car wreck in June, a 23-year-old driver is facing charges for leaving the scene of the wreck that resulted in injuries. He’s also charged for fleeing and eluding, and reckless driving that led to injury. He was driving a white BMW when he made an illegal U-turn. Police attempted to stop him, but he fled police. The suspect ran two red lights and caused a seven-car crash. The driver got out of the car and fled from the scene of the crash by foot. DNA from the BMW airbag helped police track down the suspect, according to news reports.
Pickup Truck Driver Hits Teen
A Dodge pickup truck driver veered off the roadway and collided into a 15-year-old while he was walking on the shoulder of the road. He succumbed to his injuries at the hospital the next day. Police are alleging that the driver was texting at the time of the wreck, which happened in Utah. A texting while driving ban went into effect in May. The suspect has a history of traffic violations, and is scheduled to appear in court soon. Drivers in Utah are still allowed to make and receive phone calls and use GPS navigation. The law now states drivers have to be looking at their phone for a reason besides calling or GPS to get cited, according to news reports.
Pickup Truck Crash Under Investigation
A boy was hit by a pick up truck while walking on the road in Ripley County last Friday, and the collision remains under investigation by the county sheriff. They are not sure why the child was in the roadway at the time of the wreck, according to news reports. They believe another child unbuckled them from a car seat, and they walked into the road. A 19-year-old driver of a pickup truck hit the boy, and police say he was putting his phone down after texting. As soon as the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to a prosecutor. The sheriff published a news release that stated how distractions can be extremely dangerous, and could lead to a disaster such as this.
Driver Rear-Ends Semi
The driver of a Toyota Camry hit the back of a tractor-trailer recently on Interstate 70 near the Ohio-Indiana border Thursday night. Police say the 30-year-old man suffered from minor injuries. The semi-truck driver was not harmed. Police also said the driver was distracted, and they are investigating whether he was also under the influence of alcohol, according to news reports.