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In Philadelphia, Deadly Head-on Collision Leaves Authorities Searching for Answers
Petrillo & Goldberg Law
Pennsauken, NJ (Law Firm Newswire) December 29, 2014 – A two-vehicle crash near a Philadelphia high school matches the profile of similar incidents in the United States. A deadly head-on collision on November 12 has left one person dead, another seriously injured and many questions unanswered. The police have launched an investigation into the two-vehicle crash. Even before the investigation concludes, a few factors have already stood out as common elements with most high-profile, fatal accidents on U.S. roadways. According to police, the crash occurred near Northeast High School. A 21-year-old woman was driving northbound on Algon Avenue and collided head-on with a vehicle that was traveling eastbound on Cottman Avenue. The woman was ejected from her car and thrown underneath the vehicle; she was pronounced dead at a local hospital hours later. The 66-year-old male driver of the other vehicle, which careered through a fence and ended up on the high school lawn, was taken to the hospital and was listed in critical but stable condition with a broken neck. Police believe that one of the motorists involved in the crash may have run a red light. The collision resulted in the temporary closure of Cottman Avenue between Algon and Summerdale Avenues. “While statistics show that a high percentage of head-on collisions occur in rural areas, the recent tragic incident in Philadelphia demonstrates that urban roads, too, have their share of such accidents,” said Steven Petrillo, a prominent automobile accident attorney in Pennsauken, NJ “All it takes is the unauthorized crossing of one vehicle into the path of another.” As fatal crashes go, the head-on collision near Northeast High School in Philadelphia is consistent with similar incidents in at least one respect: 77 percent of all passengers who are totally ejected from their vehicles are killed, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And, the NHTSA has found, seat belts are effective in preventing total ejections from vehicles, as only 1 percent of vehicle occupants using them are reported to be totally ejected. “We do not yet know for certain whether the woman who was killed in this incident was wearing her seat belt when she was ejected from her vehicle,” Petrillo said. “However, annual traffic safety data point overwhelmingly toward the prevention of more serious injury or death through the use of vehicle restraints.”
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