It is the time of year when high school kids here in Ohio and across the country begin looking forward to summer break. This also means that it is prom season for thousands of them. Recently, one high school prom was marred by a car crash that sent several students to the hospital — one of whom never went home again.
Four friends were on their way to the prom at approximately 6:15 p.m. that Friday evening. Preliminary police reports indicated that the driver was traveling above the posted speed limit when the vehicle veered into the oncoming lane of travel. When the driver overcorrected when attempting to get back into the appropriate lane. This sent the vehicle rolling.
It finally came to rest off the roadway, but not before throwing a 17-year-old girl in the back seat through the windshield. All of them suffered a variety of injuries, but she needed to be taken from the scene via helicopter while the others went to the hospital via ambulance. When the teen’s friends were released from the hospital, she continued to fight for her life. Unfortunately, sometime thereafter, she succumbed to her injuries.
At last report, police were awaiting a search warrant for the vehicle’s black box in order to determine just how fast the vehicle was traveling when the crash occurred. Proof that the driver was speeding at the time of the car crash could be used as evidence in a wrongful death claim filed by surviving family members. If this and other applicable evidence proves that negligence led to the death of the victim, an Ohio court could award damages to as reimbursement for financial losses.
Source: wcpo.com, “Victims of Monroe prom night crash ‘loved each other like brothers and sisters’“, Evan Millward and Kristen Swilley, April 30, 2018
