“In situations like these, we want to urge every driver — whether they’re teenage drivers or adults — to be mindful that every decision you make behind the wheel may have a life-changing or a life-altering consequence,” public information officer for the Murfreesboro Police Department, Larry Flowers, said.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Three people are recovering after being rushed to Ascension St. Thomas following a deadly crash on Tuesday morning.
The Blackman High School students were traveling around 11 a.m. when they were hit on a notoriously dangerous road.
On Wednesday, the Rutherford County School District called the crash a “heartbreaking tragedy” in a statement sent to News 2.
“In situations like these, we want to urge every driver — whether they’re teenage drivers or adults — to be mindful that every decision you make behind the wheel may have a life-changing or a life-altering consequence,” public information officer for the Murfreesboro Police Department, Larry Flowers, said.
The fatal crash happened at the intersection of Veterans Parkway and Kingdom Drive. According to investigators, a 16-year-old driver of a car full of teenagers was traveling back to school following a volleyball tournament at Rockvale High School.
Police said that’s when a 47-year-old Acura driver tried to turn onto Veterans Parkway and collided with the car of teens. Both vehicles spun several times before coming to a stop and sustained significant damage. The 14-year-old front-seat passenger in the car full of teens died at the scene.
“It’s especially disheartening and concerning when teenagers are involved. Young people who have their whole life ahead of them,” Flowers added. “Their life is ended from a simple mistake that someone may have made while behind the wheel.”
Investigators with Murfreesboro’s Fatal Accident Crash Team Investigators (FACT) are working to determine if speed was a factor in the crash.
“They are going to see if there were any cameras in the area,” Flowers said.
In 2023, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department reported over 650 crashes throughout the county and said speeding was one of the main contributing factors. For residents like Krista Dykes, she told News 2 it’s nothing new to her, living off of where this most recent crash happened.
“It fluctuates between 40 and 50 miles per hour you know depending on where you are on this street, but sometimes it feels like people are going 70,” Dykes said, pointing to the intersection of Veterans Parkway and Kingdom Drive. “That’s the speed on the interstate and that’s not the speed for this road.”