Tragic Crash Reported in Laurel County, Kentucky

LAUREL COUNTY, KY- Wymt.com writes that a deadly collision occurred in Laurel County on US-25 East this week. The early afternoon incident killed two people.*

Police reports indicate that a Kia was exiting a parking lot when it collided with a Ford that was traveling west. The drivers of both cars died in the wreck, and no one else was in either of the vehicles. The person driving the Kia was an 82-year-old woman from Siler. The woman was declared dead after being rushed to the St. Joseph Hospital. The man driving the Ford was a 78-year-old from Trosper who was taken to the Baptist Health Care facility where he too was declared dead. Images from the scene show two sedans with severe damage on their front driver’s sides. Both of the cars ended up in the grassy median of the roadway. 

The number of deadly crashes in Kentucky dropped from 782 in 2017 to 724 in 2018. Nationally, the numbers also declined in 2018. Across the country, 36,560 people died, indicating a drop of 2.4 percent as compared to 2017. Of course, the numbers are still high, and efforts are needed to further improve road safety. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) writes that vehicle safety features have worked to drive down the number of deaths caused by car crashes. Cars now help protect occupants with systems that alert motorists when they are getting too close to another vehicle in front of them and that brake on their own in an emergency. Some newer cars also alert drivers if they are leaving their traffic lanes unintentionally. The majority of collisions are caused by driver errors. These features are working to prevent these types of accidents. 

Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Sources:

https://www.wymt.com/content/news/Sheriff-Two-car-fatal-on-West-Cumberland-Gap-Parkway-570050311.html

https://transportation.ky.gov/HighwaySafety/Documents/Daily%20Fatality%20Summary%20YE2019_as_of_04-28-20.pdf

https://www.nhtsa.gov/traffic-deaths-2018

https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/driver-assistance-technologies