Sunday, August 30, 2009


UTAH: A motorcross racer died when the RV he was driving rolled off a mountain road after losing its brakes. Tanner Krahenbuhl, 16, was leaving or coming to (unclear from various reports) a motorcross event near Powder Mountain towing a 24-foot trailer. The Nevada teen had two other people in the RV with him, who survived the crash. There are videos of Tanner here at his personal Web site. And here is a memorial site. 


KANSAS: A 17-year-old died when her car ran off the road in Hodgeman County. Amber R. Schmitt was driving a 2002 Chevy Silverado, according to the Dodge City Daily Globe, when she left the road and entered a ditch. She re-entered the road, but lost control of the vehicle, which went back into the ditch and rolled.

PENNSYLVANIA: State Police said 19-year-old Benjamin Horner of Franklin was killed in a 3:48 p.m. crash in Ashland Township. The teen, driving a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier, crossed into oncoming traffic and sideswiped another car. Horner was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other driver was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Both drivers were wearing seatbelts.

OHIO: A Caledonia teen was killed in a car accident after she crossed into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle head on, according to the Marion Star. Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Bayles was declared dead at the scene of the 9:25 p.m. crash., and the driver of the other car was brought to the hospital. No word on seatbelt use or the cause of the crash.

UTAH: Four teens died in a high-speed accident along a rural road sometime between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., although the scene of the accident was not discovered until 7:30 a.m. The driver had survived the initial impact and was able to walk or crawl a short distance away before he died, according to a story in the Deseret News. The Chevy Aveo subcompact car was going about 95 mph before crashing, police said. Jose Flores, 16, of Orem, was driving, and died shortly after the crash. The three passengers, Mauro Lopez, 16, and Manuel Gonzalez, 19, both of Orem, and Vanessa Estrada, 13, of Payson, were killed instantly.

UPDATE: Memorial story on Vanessa can be found here. The driver was apparently going around 100 mph in a 30 mph zone.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Blake C. Tuggle, 18, died in a one-car accident after his 1991 Honda slid off the wet highway, according to The State.  The car crashed into the woods and struck two trees about 9:50 p.m. He had been speeding, the county coroner's office said, and was wearing his seatbelt.

MINNESOTA: Police are not releasing the name of a 19-year-old woman from East Bethel who died in a one-car rollover crash Sunday morning. There were no witnesses, and the woman was wearing her seatbelt.