• 23
  • December
    2011

In a near-perfect storm of calamity and things gone wrong, a traffic situation played out locally this past Monday evening on Old Concord Road that could have spelled sheer disaster.

Luckily, it didn't, although the contributing factors that could have brought an immeasurably tragic result march by like a driving instructor's or parent's worst nightmare.

They centrally include the following: an underage and unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a car; an unbuckled three-year-old in the car; four other passengers all younger than the driver; and other motorists nearby and in adjacent lanes.

Yes, there was a car accident, and, indeed, it did result in all 10 people involved being sent to Carolinas Medical Center Main with what were initially termed life-threatening or possible life-threatening injuries.

The headlines could have read far differently, though, given that, following a speedy and erratic ride, the youth crashed directly into an approaching car.

The situation began with a classic "home alone" scenario in which the teen, his sibling and friends jumped into an unattended family car. The vehicle was reportedly traveling at about 50 miles per hour when the driver came upon a car stopped in front of him. In seeking to avoid a collision, the teen swerved into an oncoming lane and slammed into a car with four passengers.

The driver was charged with driving without a license.

Source: 10 wistv, "Teen driver crashes car full of kids, 10 people sent to hospital" Dec. 21, 2011