A horrific crash on Thanksgiving Day that killed a father and his daughter and put a mother in the hospital in critical condition may have been the result of a street race gone bad. Police are still investigating the November 24 crash, which happened on NW North River Drive in Miami. A fourth individual, the driver of the second car involved in the crash, escaped serious injury.
High Speed, Possibly Stuck Together
Business surveillance video located after the crash shows the two cars speeding down the street at a speed estimated to be between 50 and 60 mph. When the cars first show up on camera, they are already sliding out of control, and some interpretations of the video suggest that the cars might have made contact earlier and somehow become stuck together.
At the least, it appears that one car struck the other, and both of them lost control. On the videos, they’re seen crossing both lanes of the street and crashing into a metal fence. At that point, at least one of the cars burst into flames in an explosion one witness described as like a bomb going off.
Based on witness accounts and video, police suspect that the drivers were street racing. The driver of one of the cars and his two-year-old daughter died at the scene, either from the impact or the fire that followed. The mother of the two-year-old was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, including burns. The driver of the second car was pulled free by a bystander at the scene and was not harmed.
Street Racing Dangerous and Too Common
If it turns out that this crash was caused by street racing, it will be yet another preventable tragedy that happened because of bad decisions and careless actions. Hard statistics are difficult to come by, but we know that there are many incidents of injury and death that wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for drivers behaving recklessly.
By some estimates, street racing kills around 130 people every year. But speeding of one kind or another is a huge problem, one that is responsible for around 30 percent of all fatal crashes in the United States. That adds up to around 10,000 deaths annually. In some places, racing is nearly an epidemic.
It might not have reached quite that level in Florida, but racing—and street racing crashes—occur regularly enough that sometimes it’s newsworthy when a crash isn’t the result of racing. The Thanksgiving fatalities in Miami are far from the first ones in our state this year. In September, racing led to a fatal crash in Delray Beach and was suspected to be behind another fatal crash in Pensacola.
Miami Car Accident Lawyer
The victims of all accidents need protection after the fact. Their medical bills and other expenses need to be paid for, and frequently the only way to do this is to sue those who caused the crash for financial and other damages. At Lavent Law, we have years of experience helping the victims of auto accidents receive the compensation they’re entitled to. Our attorneys understand automobile accident law, and we’ll put that knowledge to work for you.
Call us today at 305-440-0450, or contact us through the form below to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case and determine what your next steps might be.
The post Street Racing Suspected in Fatal Thanksgiving Crash appeared first on Attorney Boris Lavent.
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