A high school student in Newburgh, Indiana died after being hit by a car while sledding Saturday night when she slid onto the road.
The responding officers pronounced Davis Collier, 16, dead when they arrived at the scene at 10:00 p.m. that night, according to Indy Star.
The driver in this incident was Galina Witte, and it is alleged that she was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Fox News reports that Witte was arrested on two preliminary charges related to drunk driving.
The foundation for such allegations might not be unfounded. In early 2017, Witte pleaded guilty to drunk driving. In this case, multiple calls about a reckless driver were reported to the police. Sgt. Tom Weber responded to these calls and was able to ensure no civilians came to harm.
“In my 23-years of service with the Indiana State Police, this was the worse driving I’ve seen,” WBIW reports Sgt. Weber saying.
Though the driver could be facing additional charges, the investigation into Collier’s death is ongoing, and judgment will be decided in a court of law.
Regardless of the outcome, it is important to remember that alcohol and automobiles are a dangerous combination. Every two minutes in the United States someone is injured or killed in a drunk driving accident, and 5.4 million nonfatal car crashes happen each year.
Getting behind the wheel of an automobile means you must give driving your full attention in the eyes of the law. Driving impaired is illegal nationwide, and texting is closely following those footprints.
Indiana has a blanket ban on reading or sending any text messages, and can impose up to a $500 fine for violators. Being tough on texting while driving might be a good indicator of the type of response Indiana might have to this alleged drunk driving incident.
Laws like the ones across the country dedicated to ending texting and drunk driving are likely an integral part of the movement that aims to make driving less risky. By limiting the number of distractions one must overcome while driving should, in theory, make it safer.
As these efforts continue on in the background, yet another teenager has died in a car accident. Whether it was alcohol, texting, or a simple tragedy that took the life of Davis Collier, the road to safer auto travel is always being repaved with knowledge from past mistakes.