Portsmouth, VA Wrongful Death Attorney Report – Teen Passenger Dies in Dinwiddie, VA

It’s a statistic we have mentioned a number of times as experienced Virginia teen accident injury attorneys. Car crashes are the leading cause of deaths among 16-19 year olds in Virginia.

Sadly another teenager has died in a crash in the state – this time in Dinwiddie County.

The 15-year-old was a passenger in a car driven by a 19-year-old on May 30, 2012. The driver from Dinwiddie, was charged with reckless driving, the progress-index report.

Virginia State Police were called to the scene of an accident on Carson Road, close to Route 670, Old Stage Road. Police said the driver of a 2009 Nissan Maxima was traveling east on Route 703, when he ran off the edge of the roadway and ended up in a ditch. The teenagers were heading home after a church function.

“The impact caused the vehicle to overturn several times before coming to rest in a corn field,” progress-index reported.

The 15-year-old girl who died was not wearing her safety belt. She was ejected from the front seat of the car and died at the scene.

The driver suffered minor injuries and treated at the scene. A second passenger, a 16-year-old from Carson was also not wearing his seat belt. He suffered minor injuries.

Alcohol and speed were not factors in the crash. However, inexperience can often play a part in teen accidents.

The group Parents for Safe Teen Driving state: “Teens lack the psychological and physiological maturity to safely manage risk and hazardous driving conditions.”

In cases where a passenger in a car is killed by a reckless driver, the passenger’s relatives often have grounds to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.