According to The Herald News, a 21-year-old driver from Tiverton, RI was killed in a single-car crash when the 21-year-old’s vehicle struck a utility pole. A passenger in the vehicle was also injured and rushed to the hospital but has since been released.

Car accident lawyers in Providence know early morning accidents involving young men also commonly involve speeding, alcohol, or both. Unfortunately, it appears this accident may have fit the classic pattern of a young driver coming home from a night partying and driving way too fast.

Excessive Speed Is Often Fatal

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has warned that “speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes” and has the data to back up that warning. In 2007, speeding played a role in causing 31 percent of all deadly car accidents – a total of 13,040 people were killed in crashes involving excess speed.

The NHTSA cautions that speeding is dangerous because it makes it harder for drivers to navigate curves and obstacles, because it increases stopping distance and increases the chance of a driver hitting something, and because it increases the distance that a car travels while a driver reacts to a hazard or dangerous situation.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that most people know how risky speeding is, many people continue to go too fast. The NHTSA data shows that young men are the worst offenders when it comes to speeding, with 39 percent of male drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 who were involved in fatal accidents reportedly exceeding the speed limit at the time. For males ages 21-24, this number drops slightly but is still well over 35 percent.

Speeding among young men is often combined with alcohol use, and the NHTSA reports that 52 percent of drivers age 21 to 24 who were involved in fatal accidents and who were speeding had a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher.

The Tiverton man who was involved in the recent car accident may have been intoxicated at the time of his speeding crash, but the toxicology report has not yet been finished and the results will not be known for several weeks. The young man was out for his 21^st birthday with two friends and was driving home after the celebration.

While it is not clear whether he was intoxicated, it has become clear that the driver was definitely speeding. A data recorder recovered from his 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix reveals that the car was going as fast as 122 miles per hour three seconds before it crashed into a utility pole.

Lawyers in Providence, RI can help if you have been injured in an accident. Contact the Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl at (508) 677-4900 for a free case consultation.