North Carolina Crash Tragically Kills Seven-Year-Old Girl

GUILFORD COUNTY, NC- Cbs17.com writes that a crash killed a child in Guilford County, North Carolina, over the weekend. The seven-year-old was a passenger in a vehicle with her family at the time of the tragic collision. The driver of the other vehicle is now facing charges for his role in the crash.*

The incident occurred in the afternoon on Harlow Drive. A 34-year-old driver operating a Ford pickup truck was traveling south when he lost control over the vehicle. After veering off the roadway, the man overcorrected and then drove into oncoming traffic where he struck a Toyota Camry head-on. 

The victim’s 31-year-old mother was driving the Camry. Also in the vehicle were the girl’s 37-year-old step-father and nine-year-old sister. All four family members were transported to the hospital following the wreck. The youngest child did not survive.

Police say that they charged the pickup truck driver with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and reckless driving.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), car crashes killed 675 children ages twelve and under in 2017. Risk factors for children in cars include failing to use proper restraints and drunk drivers. Many of the children killed in accidents were not using age-appropriate child restraints at the time of the crash. About twenty percent of children killed in collisions were in crashes that involved a drunk driver. When children die in alcohol-related accidents, they are most often in the vehicle with the impaired driver. 

The best way for parents to protect their children is to ensure that they are incorrectly installed car seats whenever they travel in an automobile. 

Accident Newsis 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.cbs17.com/news/north-carolina-news/man-charged-after-7-year-old-girl-killed-in-nc-crash/ and https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/child_passenger_safety/cps-factsheet.html