• 04
  • January
    2012

Late at night, it's imperative to keep your eyes on the road, especially if young children are riding in the car with you.

That's the takeaway from a tragic accident in Milwaukee last week that left a 10-year-old girl dead and a 5-year-old girl critically injured. The older girl's wrongful death resulted after the car her mother was driving plowed into the back of a parked tractor trailer. Police now say the older child in the car warned the mother of the impending crash, after the woman had turned around to respond to one of the children in the rear passenger seat. The warning apparently came too late.

According to Wisn.com, the woman was driving her Pontiac Grand-Am at about 2 a.m. one recent morning on Atkinson Avenue near 20th Street. She says she was distracted by her children and took her eyes off the road for a moment. That was apparently enough time for her to miss seeing the parked truck.

She crashed into the rear of the tractor trailer, causing the passenger side of the Grand-Am to be pinned underneath the trailer. The woman's 10-year-old daughter was pronounced dead at the scene. The younger daughter suffered unspecified serious injuries.

Reports indicate the woman was arrested after the accident, but no charges were immediately filed. Police apparently believed alcohol was a factor, and speed might have been as well. Since no charges were filed when she was arrested, it was unclear whether the woman would face any.

Source: Wisn.com, "Child warned mother seconds before crash," Dec. 27, 2011