6 girls dead in Tennessee car crash, all of the children were ejected from the vehicle



Six girls were killed in a tragic car crash early Sunday morning on a freeway in Tennessee.

Authorities say eight people – a man, a woman, and six children – were in a red Toyota Camry traveling near exit 24 on I-24 West in Robertson County, Tennessee. Around 2 a.m., the car allegedly veered off the road and flipped onto the shoulder.

The six girls and the woman were ejected from the car as it rolled. Emergency responders said the Camry was found upside down with "very extensive damage."

A pickup truck was near the crash site, the vehicle slammed into a concrete barrier. Officials aren't yet certain if the two vehicles affected each other or if the pickup truck driver reacted to the Camry crashing by accidentally hitting the barrier.

The driver of the pickup truck was able to walk away from the car accident.

The woman was airlifted to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and the man was rushed to the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. The woman is in critical condition and the man suffered minor injuries, according to officials.

All six of the children were pronounced dead at the scene – five of the girls were reportedly under the age of 10. One of the girls was a 1-year-old infant.

The names of the injured and deceased had yet to be released.

WKRN-TV reported, "A total of four ambulances responded to the crash site, along with crews from Robertson County EMS, Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department, Cheatham County EMS and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)."

Robertson County EMS Director Brent Dyer said, "Our office recognizes the incredible difficulty of this scene."

Robertson County Emergency Medical Services is coordinating professional mental health and counseling services for first responders at the fatal car crash.

The deadly crash is being investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Robertson County Emergency Medical Services said in a statement, "Please keep the families and persons involved in your thoughts and prayers."

Earlier this month, five children were killed in a heartbreaking car accident in New York. A Nissan Rogue being driven by a 16-year-old boy veered off the road and crashed into a tree in Scarsdale, New York.

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National Transportation Safety Board recommends all new vehicles be equipped with alcohol impairment and speed limiter technology



On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all new vehicles come standard with alcohol impairment and speed limiter systems to reduce crashes. The guidance is in response to an investigation into a California collision that the department said could have been avoided with the implementation of available technology.

The investigated crash occurred on January 1, 2021, and involved two adults and seven children. The NTSB found that the collision was caused by an intoxicated motorist driving above the speed limit.

The impaired driver was operating a sport utility vehicle and traveling south on California’s State Route 33. Simultaneously, a pickup truck was headed north on the same road. The SUV was traveling between 88 and 98 mph when it crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the pickup truck.

As a result of the head-on crash, the truck caught fire. All eight occupants of the two vehicles died.

The NTSB argued that the collision was caused by loss of vehicle control resulting from alcohol impairment and excessive speed. The organization stated that because the SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed, the truck did not have enough time to take evasive action.

“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now to save lives.”

The collision investigation led the NTSB to recommend that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration require all new vehicles to be equipped with systems that would prevent the ability to speed and prevent an intoxicated driver from operating a vehicle.

“To prevent alcohol and other drug-impaired driving crashes, the NTSB has called for in-vehicle alcohol detection technology, the lowering of the blood alcohol concentration limit to .05 g/dL or lower, alcohol ignition-interlock devices for people convicted of driving while intoxicated and recommended that regulators develop a standard of practice to improve drug toxicology testing,” the NTSB wrote.

The organization also recommended “a comprehensive strategy to eliminate speeding-related crashes that combines traditional measures like enforcement and regulation with new technological advances like speed limiters and intelligent speed adaptation technology.”

The NTSB noted that impaired drivers remain the leading cause of highway crashes that result in injury. In 2020, 30% of car crash fatalities were caused by intoxicated drivers, a 14% increase from the previous year.

“We have to remember that technology is only part of the solution. To save lives on our roads, we need to look more broadly at the entire transportation system, which includes everything that can prevent a crash,” said Homendy.