Tragedy along U.S. 1 construction site not found for hours
By J.D. Gallop
FLORIDA TODAY

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Three teenagers died on the night of July 9, 2002, in a single-car accident when their Honda Accord, traveling at more than 100 mph, careened off a rain-slick construction zone and slammed into a pine tree.

The impact sliced the vehicle into three pieces. All three youths were killed. It would be hours later, and daylight, before they were found by Department of Transportation road construction workers arriving early at the work site on U.S. 1.

At first, no one noticed anything unusual about the site. Several stacks of iron posts, flexible drainage pipe and other construction materials were stored on the lot, not far from what appeared to be the junked remains of a car.

" They thought it was an old car at first, the way it was sitting there," said Otis Rhymes, one of the crew members at the scene. But at about 7:20 a.m., one of the DOT workers spotted the body of a young man on the ground near a coil of flexible pipe.

Police investigators, who examined the wreckage under a steady rain, said the black Honda Accord was traveling through the damp construction zone when the driver struck the foot-high curb along the left lane and glanced across the roadway.

Still traveling at over 100 mph, the car struck the curb on the right side three times, after which it likely became partly airborne. The vehicle slammed driver's-side first into a pine tree about 100 feet from where it first hit the curb.

As the sedan broke apart, its front compartment spun to the side of the tree. The backseat portion crashed 40 feet away into a drainage canal.
The rear-seat passenger was thrown clear and landed partially on a pile of drain pipes near another tree.

Farther away in the drainage ditch was the car's engine. Other debris from the car, including a portable stereo, car manuals and even motorcycle parts were scattered along the grassy lot.
None of the three teenagers were wearing seatbelts. Investigators did not believe that safety feature would have saved their lives anyway.

" Speed will be a factor in this accident," said Commander Ron Bell, spokesman for the Melbourne Police Department. "The car vehicle had a space-saver spare tire on its right rear. The speeds for those differ with the manufacturer. In this case, the tire wasn't designed to go over 50 mph."
" We're very cognizant of safety at all times," said Bonnie Higbie, the spokeswoman for the U.S. 1 Reconstruction Project. The curbing along the rerouted and realigned roads, which the Honda struck, is one of the safety measures for the site. The speed limit, 45 mph, is posted throughout. She added, "It's just hard to get people to slow down."

Although police are not sure who was driving, all three of the youths belonged to a high-risk group for deadly car crashes. Nationwide in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 5,759 teens died from car crash injuries: roughly one death every 91 minutes.

The risk for motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16 to 19 year olds than any other age group, the CDC said. In Florida, 375 drivers between 15 and 19 were involved in fatal crashes last year, the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said.

Note: The following account was adapted from an article originally published by FLORIDA TODAY.