One teen was planning on dedicating her life to reducing the amount of teenaged driver deaths in car accidents, but instead, she is now just another statistic to add to a growing list.

In an ironic twist of fate, the teen driver, 18, was killed by a drunk driver (DUI) in a head-on automobile accident on Saturday, November 8, 2008 in Clayton, North Carolina.

Our firm’s San Diego car accident lawyers know that DUI accidents are preventable and there is never any excuse for causing physical hurt and emotional trauma to someone because you get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated.  The gravest consequences come when someone loses their life.

Her parents were waiting for her to come home late on Saturday night when they heard a crash that her mother described as “an explosion.”  They went to the scene of the car accident just a few blocks away from their house and discovered that their only child, Shannon, was killed in an automobile accident by a drunk driver that had crossed into her lane.

“I am no longer anybody’s mother, and I’ll never be a grandmother,” the mother said sobbingly.  “This is the end of my family tree.”

In the cruelest of ironies, the teen studied teenage drunk-driving highway deaths as her senior project before graduating Clayton High School last spring.  Her study prompted her to change her major at college to criminal justice to combat that very problem.

“She enjoyed working with the police,” her aunt said. “She really wanted to go out and try to keep these kids from dying.”

The staggering number of teenaged driver deaths in North Carolina — more than 1,200 between 1997 and 2006 — has driven the state medical examiner’s office to form a task force to study the high school driver’s education programs.  There are many in the state that feel the program falls short of the demands and distractions facing today’s drivers.  Her county was planning to hold its first task force on teenaged driver safety on the Thursday after her death. She was planning on attending.

It is terrible that we have to talk about another teenage driver killed in a car accident.  Teen drivers are inexperienced and need to be cautious rather than aggressive.  Compounding the problem are people who DUI.  Shannon was one of many drivers to die in a fatal car accident caused by a drunk driver.

Our firm’s San Diego car accident lawyers can only hope that her family’s tragedy can keep some drunk-drivers off the road.  Call a friend or have a designated driver, but please do not get behind the wheel and drive-drunk.  Additionally, please do not get into a car with someone you know has been drinking or is drunk.

Unfortunately, someone got behind the wheel and drove drunk.  Now, this young woman is just another statistic for someone else to try and fix.

If you were injured and believe that you deserve compensation, then call our bilingual law offices right away at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced car accident lawyers and find out how we can help you.  We look forward to providing good advice for your case.  There is no fee if no recovery.