There has been some tragic news out of Texas lately, as three siblings all passed away in the same car accident, along with one of their friends. It appears that the group was all heading to a dance competition together when they got involved in the crash. Another sibling was a part of that competition, and they were simply going to watch.
Reports indicate that the three children were 17 years old, 15 years old and 12 years old. Their family friend was older than them, at 19 years old. All were traveling in the same car.
Their mother was also in the car, and she was badly injured. She is in critical condition in the hospital.
It looks like the car they were in got rear-ended by another driver. That vehicle was going about 58 mph, investigators say. They also determined that the driver did not touch the brakes until 0.6 seconds prior to impact. They think that this shows that the driver was using a cellphone, got distracted and never saw the other vehicle.
The surviving sibling had to go to the hospital and break the news to the injured mother about the death of all three other children.
“I had to explain to her and tell her what happened and she’s still kind of in and out of it,” he said. “But now that she’s becoming more coherent, it’s setting in more and it’s just really hard.”
This case shows how fast an accident can change lives. One second of texting left four dead and altered a family’s future forever. Those who get injured or lose loved ones in these accidents must know their legal rights.