Two young children were among the three people injured in a five-car pileup that occurred on U.S. Route 169, just south of the city of Owasso.
Tulsa, OK -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/25/2019 --According to a statement issued by a representative of local law enforcement, the crash occurred after a driver of a Dodge Ram pick up truck rear-ended a smaller vehicle. The initial collision triggered a larger wreck, after three other vehicles were caught up in the chain reaction event.
The injured victims — including a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old — were transported to a hospital in Tulsa. The younger child was treated and released with minor injuries. However, the 6-year-old crash victim was admitted to the hospital with trunk internal injuries. Trunk internal injuries are frequently caused by blunt force trauma.
Notably, the collision happened right at the entrance of a construction zone, at the point where two lanes of vehicles were merging into a single lane of traffic. Construction zones are often high-risk areas for car accidents. In many cases, drivers have less room to maneuver and the flow of traffic can slow without much advanced warning. When entering a work zone, it is crucial that all motorists pay the utmost attention to the road. That may not have occurred in this case: the official accident report cites driver distraction as a causal factor in this crash.
As explained by Tulsa, OK car accident lawyer Charles Bryan Alred, "Drivers have an obligation to keep their focus on the road at all times. Even seemingly minor distractions — such as stealing a quick glance at a cell phone or trying to put in map directions — have the potential to be incredibly dangerous. Under Oklahoma law, negligent drivers can be held legally liable for any injuries sustained in distracted driving accidents."
Distracted driving is a major problem in our communities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that nearly 3,500 people are killed in distracted driving collisions each year. Many tens of thousands more innocent people suffer severe injuries in these avoidable crashes. Alamaringly, there is considerable evidence that suggests that distracted driving is on the rise. According to a 2018 study from Zendrive, distracted driving is rising in 49 of the 50 states, with Vermont being the only exception.