Crash Kills Teen on Highway 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina (NC)

CHARLOTTE, NC- Wbtv.com writes that a nineteen-year-old girl was killed in a multiple-vehicle collision in Lancaster County this week. The early afternoon accident took place on Highway 9 close to Yancy Catoe Road.*

Reports indicate that the young victim was declared dead at the scene of the crash. 

Police stated that the victim was traveling in a Hyundai when she drifted across the center line and into oncoming traffic. The girl's vehicle struck a pickup truck head-on. The driver and passenger in the pickup truck were both transported to the hospital. A Kia sedan then also collided with the pickup truck injuring the driver in that car as well. 

Head-on impacts are severe and involve intense forces. While there crashes account for only a small number of overall wrecks, they lead to one in ten traffic deaths. Head-on collisions are a type of lane departure crash. Sideswipes and run off the road collisions are caused by similar factors as head-on collisions, and yet the results vary greatly between these types of accidents. A driver who leaves his or her lane and sideswipes another car will likely not face the same consequences as one who drifts left of center. 

Road engineers try to prevent these types of crashes by adding median barriers between opposite moving lanes of traffic. These barriers are sometimes cables, and other times are constructed from concrete. While cars also strike these barriers sometimes, the results of a car striking a median are rarely as severe would be the consequences of a head-on impact. As such, barriers to high-speed roadways can save lives. 

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 a 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.wbtv.com/2020/06/29/year-old-killed-multiple-vehicle-crash-lancaster-county/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-on_collision