A 16-year-old driver in Ohio was going down a country road when she allegedly blew through a stop sign. That caused a violent traffic accident, and a passenger in her car was killed. Authorities are now saying that she was speeding at the time of the crash, claiming she was going at least 67 miles per hour.
As a result, the girl in now facing felony charges. She has not been convicted of anything yet, but these are very serious accusations. She faces aggravated vehicular assault (two counts) and aggravated vehicular homicide. The officer in charge was asked why the felony charges were used and said her excessive speed was a big reason.
The trooper also said that the range they suspected for her minimum speed was actually between 67 mph and 71 mph. He stressed multiple times that they viewed that as the minimum, based on the work that the reconstruction team could do. That suggests she could have been going even faster.
Besides speed, the girl was driving with two friends in her car. Under the local laws, she could only have one friend; this rule is in place to try to reduce the accident risk posed by brand new drivers. Essentially, she was breaking the law the entire time she was behind the wheel, even before she started speeding or ran the stop sign, so the police are being harsh with the charges.
Have you lost a loved one in a tragic accident, perhaps caused by a young person who knowingly broke the law? If so, you need to know what rights you may have to compensation, which can help with medical bills, funeral costs and much more.
Source: Norwalk Reflector, “High speed cited as reason for felony charges in fatal crash,” March 01, 2017