Residents of a Louisiana parish are mourning the death of a high school student and another man following a fatal car crash on April 2. A 17-year-old girl was killed when her SUV struck a pickup truck sometime after 3 p.m. The crash also killed the truck driver. Louisiana State Troopers say the car accident is still under investigation.

According to police reports, the student lost control of her vehicle and collided with the pickup truck, driven by a local 43-year-old man. Both drivers were alone in their vehicles. Although both the student and the man were wearing seat belts, their injuries were extensive and proved fatal.

Police say while the student was speeding, they are as yet unsure whether this was the cause of the crash. Nothing was reported about the condition of either vehicle prior to the car accident, and police have yet to release any information regarding the actions of the truck driver. At this time, the cause of the crash remains largely a mystery beyond the suggestion that the teenager was not able to control her vehicle prior to the accident.

It is always tragic when a young person is hurt or killed in a car accident, a fact all too familiar to Louisiana residents local to this incident who endured a similar blow when a male student lost his life in an accident late last year. It drives home the importance of driving safely and according to the rules of the road. If an investigation confirms the initial indications that the girl lost control of her vehicle, the surviving family of the deceased truck driver may pursue a wrongful death claim against the girl's estate and any separate owner of the vehicle she was driving. This type of legal claim is made under our state's personal injury laws, and could result in reimbursement of damages sustained, based upon proof that they were caused by the negligence of the teenage driver.

Source: ksla.com, "Haughton High School student killed in crash," Amber Edwards, April 2, 2013