An 11-year-old girl is dead after a Palo Alto car accident which happened Saturday morning. The crash occurred around 11:30 a.m. on I-280 south of Page Mill Road.
CBS San Francisco reports that a Ford 150 crowded with eight people veered off of the road and overturned. The Watsonville girl was among the passengers in the car and was thrown onto the roadway.
Two adults, also from Watsonville, were ejected as well. These individuals suffered serious injuries. The five others in the vehicle suffered minor to moderate personal injuries.
California Highway Patrol officer Art Montiel told reporters that it is unclear why the driver lost control of the vehicle, but that overcrowding and lack of seat belt use were contributing factors to the severity of the injuries seen in this crash.
Seat belt use is one of the most effective ways to prevent serious injuries in a car accident.
Although the use of a seat belt cannot guarantee that an individual will survive a crash, seat belts do help keep individuals from being ejected in rollover crashes such as this one.
Source: CBS San Francisco, “Watsonville Girl Killed In Rollover Crash Near Palo Alto,” June 30, 2013
