Wife's friends daughter killed in SUV. Sad, why do people let kids drive these things...
12-06-2004, 08:10 PM
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Wife's friends daughter killed in SUV. Sad, why do people let kids drive these things...
washingtonpost.com
Fairfax 16-Year-Old Killed in SUV Crash
Police Say New Driver Was Speeding
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 5, 2004; Page C03
A 16-year-old Fairfax girl was killed Friday night when her sport-utility vehicle flipped on its side and skidded into the back of a stopped car driven by a friend, Fairfax County police said yesterday.
Lauren Sausville, a junior at Fairfax High School, was the 17th teenager killed in a traffic accident in the Washington area since mid-September.
Police said the driver of the car she was following, a 17-year-old Fairfax student, had been drinking, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Police were still investigating where Sausville and her friend had been Friday night before they reached Colchester Road and Fairfax Station Road in a sparsely populated area of southern Fairfax. Sausville was driving a 1999 Ford Explorer, and her friend, also a Fairfax High student, was driving a 1994 Mazda MX6. There were no passengers in either car.
Police said the 17-year-old was heading south on Colchester Road just after 11 p.m. and stopped the Mazda at the stop sign for Fairfax Station Road. He then watched the accident unfold in his rearview mirror. Police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said the youth reported watching the Explorer run off the road into an embankment, flip onto the driver's side and skid down the road toward him.
As the Explorer got closer, the youth tried to pull away, Jennings said, but the Explorer was sliding too fast and slammed into the right rear of the Mazda. The impact crushed the roof of the Explorer and drove Sausville back into the rear passenger compartment.
Sausville was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said it took about 90 minutes to extricate her body from the wreckage.
Police estimate that Sausville was driving 55 to 60 mph on Colchester Road, which has a speed limit of 35 mph, Lt. Dan Townsend of the police traffic unit said. He said she had been driving for four months.
"This crash had all the variables," Townsend said. "There were no lights on that road, you've got an unstable vehicle, an inexperienced driver and an overcorrection with the steering wheel."
A fatal crash involving teenagers on Interstate 95 in October also involved an SUV and an overcorrection. In that accident, a 16-year-old driving a Cadillac Escalade started to change lanes, realized that another car was already there and swerved back to her original lane, causing the Escalade to topple, police said. A passenger on the side where the Escalade landed, 17-year-old Laura Lynam of Alexandria, was killed.
The youth driving the Mazda was not seriously hurt, though the rear of the car was crumpled and the rear window shattered. While he was talking to police, Jennings said, officers suspected he was intoxicated. His blood-alcohol content was later measured at .08, Jennings said, which is the state's defined level for intoxication, and he was arrested. His name was not released because he is a juvenile.
Jennings said Sausville's blood-alcohol level was not available, pending the completion of toxicology tests.
In an attempt to deter drunken driving during the holiday season, Fairfax police on Wednesday launched their Safe December program with a roving squad of officers focused on arresting impaired motorists. In the first three nights of the program, the officers made 28 DWI arrests in the county.
Sausville's family was not available to comment yesterday.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
Fairfax 16-Year-Old Killed in SUV Crash
Police Say New Driver Was Speeding
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 5, 2004; Page C03
A 16-year-old Fairfax girl was killed Friday night when her sport-utility vehicle flipped on its side and skidded into the back of a stopped car driven by a friend, Fairfax County police said yesterday.
Lauren Sausville, a junior at Fairfax High School, was the 17th teenager killed in a traffic accident in the Washington area since mid-September.
Police said the driver of the car she was following, a 17-year-old Fairfax student, had been drinking, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Police were still investigating where Sausville and her friend had been Friday night before they reached Colchester Road and Fairfax Station Road in a sparsely populated area of southern Fairfax. Sausville was driving a 1999 Ford Explorer, and her friend, also a Fairfax High student, was driving a 1994 Mazda MX6. There were no passengers in either car.
Police said the 17-year-old was heading south on Colchester Road just after 11 p.m. and stopped the Mazda at the stop sign for Fairfax Station Road. He then watched the accident unfold in his rearview mirror. Police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said the youth reported watching the Explorer run off the road into an embankment, flip onto the driver's side and skid down the road toward him.
As the Explorer got closer, the youth tried to pull away, Jennings said, but the Explorer was sliding too fast and slammed into the right rear of the Mazda. The impact crushed the roof of the Explorer and drove Sausville back into the rear passenger compartment.
Sausville was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said it took about 90 minutes to extricate her body from the wreckage.
Police estimate that Sausville was driving 55 to 60 mph on Colchester Road, which has a speed limit of 35 mph, Lt. Dan Townsend of the police traffic unit said. He said she had been driving for four months.
"This crash had all the variables," Townsend said. "There were no lights on that road, you've got an unstable vehicle, an inexperienced driver and an overcorrection with the steering wheel."
A fatal crash involving teenagers on Interstate 95 in October also involved an SUV and an overcorrection. In that accident, a 16-year-old driving a Cadillac Escalade started to change lanes, realized that another car was already there and swerved back to her original lane, causing the Escalade to topple, police said. A passenger on the side where the Escalade landed, 17-year-old Laura Lynam of Alexandria, was killed.
The youth driving the Mazda was not seriously hurt, though the rear of the car was crumpled and the rear window shattered. While he was talking to police, Jennings said, officers suspected he was intoxicated. His blood-alcohol content was later measured at .08, Jennings said, which is the state's defined level for intoxication, and he was arrested. His name was not released because he is a juvenile.
Jennings said Sausville's blood-alcohol level was not available, pending the completion of toxicology tests.
In an attempt to deter drunken driving during the holiday season, Fairfax police on Wednesday launched their Safe December program with a roving squad of officers focused on arresting impaired motorists. In the first three nights of the program, the officers made 28 DWI arrests in the county.
Sausville's family was not available to comment yesterday.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
12-06-2004, 08:20 PM
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My condolences. Same thing happened last week about 2 miles from my house -
16 yr old with a couple months experience, speeding with his Explorer, takes turn too fast, rolls, is ejected (no seatbelt) and killed. Friend in passenger seat, wearing seatbelt, walks away with scratches. Parents only think crash test survivability - get their kids the heaviest battering ram. Too bad they're totally unstable, especially in inexperienced hands. I've had 1 SUV rollover, 1 Cavalier rollover, and a Camry wagon T-boning a tree, all in the last 5 years, right in front of my house. All cars driven by 16 or 17 yr olds on my quiet dirt road. I'm seriously considering holding off on my kids getting licenses until 18!
12-06-2004, 08:23 PM
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Alcohol plus the most unstable SUV ever...a bad combination...
No proof yet regarding the girl's alcohol level...but it is quite suspicious given her friend was drunk and they were travelling 'together'...
There's no explanation as to why she ran off the road into an embankment...but it doesn't sound like the unstable Exploder was necessarily to blame. Speed, alcohol, inexperience???
Now, they mention that she is the 17th teenager killed in an accident since mid-September...they mention another teenager in another SUV. What might be interesting is knowing what the other 15 teenagers were in/driving when they were killed and the percentage of teenagers who drive SUVs vs cars.
Personally, I believe the previous generation Exploder is an amazing hazard...it's virtually criminal to allow it to still be on the road.
Clearly it is sad this girl is dead, but I wouldn't draw any conclusions regarding safety of SUVs from this article...although I have no plans on giving my kids an SUV to drive when they get old enough...of course, 17 years from now we'll all be driving fuel-cell golf carts!
There's no explanation as to why she ran off the road into an embankment...but it doesn't sound like the unstable Exploder was necessarily to blame. Speed, alcohol, inexperience???
Now, they mention that she is the 17th teenager killed in an accident since mid-September...they mention another teenager in another SUV. What might be interesting is knowing what the other 15 teenagers were in/driving when they were killed and the percentage of teenagers who drive SUVs vs cars.
Personally, I believe the previous generation Exploder is an amazing hazard...it's virtually criminal to allow it to still be on the road.
Clearly it is sad this girl is dead, but I wouldn't draw any conclusions regarding safety of SUVs from this article...although I have no plans on giving my kids an SUV to drive when they get old enough...of course, 17 years from now we'll all be driving fuel-cell golf carts!
12-06-2004, 08:27 PM
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Get them training and experience with you in the car...
plus a safe car with side and side curtain airbags and tell 'em if they get a speeding ticket or other similarly significant offense, the car is gone.
Oh yeah, age and maturity is a signficant factor also.
Oh yeah, age and maturity is a signficant factor also.
12-06-2004, 09:17 PM
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That's not too far from my house. Most of the blame should be on the alchohol.
Sorry to hear about it. It happened practically in the front lawn of my partner who is now with me in Japan.
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12-07-2004, 02:26 AM
#8
We need to be much tougher on drivers who drink and drive....
My view:
1st offense: fine + you car is taken away
2nd offense: 1st + jail
3rd offens: 2nd + never allowed to drive again
Drunk drivers are criminals!
1st offense: fine + you car is taken away
2nd offense: 1st + jail
3rd offens: 2nd + never allowed to drive again
Drunk drivers are criminals!
12-07-2004, 04:40 AM
#10
Big 2nd on that!!! <rant>
I have a friend, who will remain nameless, who has FIVE DUIs!! The only reason he had a chance to get five was because the court date for the FIRST one was almost 2 years after the fact. After all this, he had to go to a detention center for weekends for 2 months and he CAN get back on the road within a year!!
Also, a co-workers friend was killed because she broke down on I97 and a drunk driver with ELEVEN DWIs slammed into her and fled the scene, running through the woods. The girl was under 21 y.o., was in a coma for three months, and finally passed. Oh, and the drunk got 2 years...thats it!!! Bullsh*t!!!
Finally, I've seen the aftermath of multiple drunk driving wrecks through work...it's not pretty at all.
I'm all for the 3 strikes rule, but 2 within 5 years means revocation of your license, IMO. </rant off>
Also, a co-workers friend was killed because she broke down on I97 and a drunk driver with ELEVEN DWIs slammed into her and fled the scene, running through the woods. The girl was under 21 y.o., was in a coma for three months, and finally passed. Oh, and the drunk got 2 years...thats it!!! Bullsh*t!!!
Finally, I've seen the aftermath of multiple drunk driving wrecks through work...it's not pretty at all.
I'm all for the 3 strikes rule, but 2 within 5 years means revocation of your license, IMO. </rant off>