Car Accident Destroys Three Families

As a <a href=”https://www.kairelaw.com/car-accident/”>Miami Car Accident Lawyer</a>, I know that car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States. In 2009 approximately 3,000 teenagers died nationwide in in car accidents.

Teenage drivers feel empowered, and studies cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that teenagers are less likely to use seat belts, and they are more likely to get into accidents if other teenagers are their only passengers.

The above statistics are all to familiar to Kamran Hanif and the friends and families he affected in 2009. Kamran Hanif was traveling 75 mph in a 45-mph zone when he lost control of his Toyota sedan on a rain-slicked road shortly after midnight on June 27, 2009
and crashed it into a lightpole on the 14000 block of Sheridan Street in Pembroke Pines.

Four other teenagers were passengers in Hanif’s car, and one of them, Antonio Rodriguez, 16, did not survive. David Lopez another teenage passenger in the car was paralyzed from the waist down.

Hanif was sentenced to two years in prison followed by 10 years’ probation.

 
As a parent of a teenage driver and personal injury lawyer every day brings worries. Not only do teenagers face the distractions of cell phones, radio, texting, etc., but also the added feeling of invincibility.

I do not know, nor have I ever met Kaner Hanif, yet I am certain he did not mean to harm anyone that night in June. All it took was one moment of too much speed to forever change his life, and those of his friends.

As parents we must constantly remind our children of the dangers associated with driving. The key to helping teens become better drivers is parental involvement, says Pam Fischer, who leads the New Jersey Teen Safe Driving Coalition. She says teens whose parents set rules and monitor their activities are half as likely to crash, 71 percent less likely to drive intoxicated, and 30 percent less likely to use a cell phone while driving.