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Four Dead After Speeding BMW Crashes at the 215 in San Bernardino

Four people were killed over the weekend in a San Bernardino accident that police are now blaming on speeding. According to the Los Angeles Times, the accident occurred when a speeding BMW crashed into a signpost on the northbound connecter to the 215 freeway.

There were four occupants in the BMW, including three men and one woman. All of the occupants were in their late teens or early 20s. According to the California Highway Patrol, the BMW driver was traveling at excessive speeds, and the driver was probably unable to maneuver his vehicle through the transition road. The impact of the accident was devastating, and caused the BMW to break in two. Preliminary investigations seemed to suggest that the car was traveling at about 65 mph, which is higher than the 50 mph posted speed limit on the run. California Highway Patrol investigations are now looking at where the four occupants of the vehicle were coming from at the time of the accident.

According to the California Highway Patrol, only the driver of the BMW was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. However, in this particular accident, it’s unclear whether seatbelts would’ve prevented the multiple fatalities. Much of the impact was observed by the roof of the vehicle which was completely crushed, and this was likely a primary factor in the fatalities. Speeding car crashes account for a big portion of auto fatalities.

Investigators are retracing the activities of the occupants of the vehicle in the 24 hours leading up to the accident. This will probably provide vital clues that will help determine the cause of the accident. All occupants of the vehicle were in their early 20s. So far, there’s nothing to suggest that alcohol or drugs were a factor here.

As any California car accident lawyer knows, speed is the biggest killer on California roads, and contributes to the highest number of accident fatalities every year. The focus on traffic safety over the past several decades has been on minimizing the number of accidents caused by drunk driving.   Once the number of people killed in these crashes declined, law enforcement began to turn their attention to distracted driving crashes. These include accidents caused by the use of cell phones and other electronic devices while driving.

However, in all this focus on drunk and distracted driving, we tend to forget that more people are killed in speeding-related accidents every year than any other accident cause. Approximately 31% of all accident fatalities every year are caused by motorists driving at excessive speeds. In comparison, drunk driving contributes to an estimated 30% of all of accident fatalities annually.  Distracted driving is linked to about 6,000 accident fatalities a year, a far lower number than the deaths linked to speeding car crashes.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of deadly car accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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