Teenager critical after 2-car crash near Hampstead
Hazel Road is a short road that dead ends at Route 111 just east of Hampstead. An accident at that location sent two people to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. What happened in the two-car crash has not yet been determined.
One of the drivers involved in the accident was a 17-year-old from Sandown, New Hampshire. He was driving a 2000 Jeep Cherokee when he collided somehow with a 2002 Chrysler minivan driven by a woman. Her age was not reported. The car accident took place at 6:13 in the morning.
Few other details related to the crash have been released other than the fact that the 17-year-old is the son of a police officer, and the teenager is in critical condition. There were other people in the minivan that sustained minor injuries and were treated and released. It was not reported how many people there were in the van in addition to the driver.
Nationwide, 2.3 million adults were involved in motor vehicle accidents which required emergency room treatment, according to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The economic impact of this was $70 billion in 2005. For young drivers, the statistics are even starker. Consider these facts from the CDC:
- Drivers age 15-24 are 14 percent of the population but are 30 percent of the motor vehicle accident injuries for males.
- Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers.
- Fatal crashes among males age 15 to 20 involved speeding 37 percent of the time and alcohol use 26 percent of the time.
Whoever caused the accident could be held liable in civil court for the personal injury to the other driver. At this point we cannot speculate who may have been at fault.
Source: Eagle-Tribune, “Sandown teen’s condition critical after car crash,” Jill Harmacinski, Aug. 20, 2012
