The day after the Newton High School prom turned tragic when a car full of teenagers went off the road and flipped over, injuring three of the occupants and killing one 17-year-old girl.
The accident happened around 5:30 in the evening in Fredon Township, according to the New Jersey State Police. The Mercedes Benz sedan the teens were riding in had been rented specifically for the prom. The driver, a 17-year-old male, suffered a concussion. His other two passengers, another 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old female, were also injured. The female student was taken to the intensive care unit of the local hospital but is expected to recover.
Fatalities due to single-car accidents are more common than most people probably realize. According to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the majority of fatal car accidents involve only one vehicle. Passengers and drivers can be killed when a vehicle goes into a roll, especially when a vehicle is top-heavy or the occupants aren’t buckled in properly.
While none of the reports indicate what caused this particular accident, it’s possible — given that this was the evening following prom — that fatigued driving may have contributed to the accident. Many times, tired drivers genuinely don’t realize that they’re too sleepy to be behind the wheel. It can only take seconds for a tired driver to fall asleep and drift out of his or her lane.
Whatever the cause of this accident, the injury victims and the family of the young woman that was killed will likely have a large number of expenses that they have to cover. It’s important for all injury victims and their families to seek legal guidance following a car accident to find out what kind of options they have.
