A 17-year-old teenager apparently lost control of his van on eastbound Louisiana 164 recently. The results were deadly. While details of the fatal car crash are sketchy, this much is known: one teen died and two others were injured in the Sunday afternoon accident.

Initial reports from Louisiana state police indicate that the van driver veered across the center line of the roadway in Bossier-Webster parish. Thereafter, the van collided with an oncoming car operated by a 19-year-old Lubbock male. A 15-year-old passenger in the van was killed. The drivers of both vehicles were hospitalized, though the specific nature and extent of their injuries was not reported.

Apart from the van drifting over the center line, no other potential factors were identified initially. Presumably, Louisiana authorities will continue their investigation to discover what happened in the moments leading up to the accident. There were no reports of any arrests or citations issued in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.

A fatal car crash can occur in a split second. One wrong move or one moment of inattention can have disastrous consequences. If the official accident investigation report confirms the preliminary findings, the family of the deceased teenager, as well as the injured car driver, retains the right to turn to Louisiana courts to seek monetary damages based upon allegations of negligence on the part of the van driver. Furthermore, if the van was owned by someone other than the driver, that party could be included as a defendant in a lawsuit to recover damages.

Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, "Lubbock teen injured in two-vehicle accident near Haughton, La.," Sept. 17, 2012