Every day, many people experience an accident that changes their lives forever. A car crash can leave you with irreversible damage, or take away a loved one in an instant. These horrible accidents occur all too often, all over the United States. In fact, car accidents are one of the most common causes of death in the US. Yet some accidents are worse than others. In Hemet, California, one truck accident made the headlines because of its devastating effect. Eight Southern California teenagers had just finished one of their last days of school and were walking across the street to head for home on May 30th, 2012. Graduation was a few days away, and the high school students were probably discussing their summer plans.

All of a sudden, a speeding pick-up truck zoomed towards them from across the street. The teens were exposed in the middle of the crosswalk when the 1994 Ford Ranger plowed in that direction. The truck hit all of them, a collision which sent them to the hospital immediately. Three of the pedestrians arrived to the medical facility in critical condition. The other 6 were all treated for minor injuries and sent home. The driver of the rouge vehicle was a fellow high school student, who was taking his twin brother home from school. The Hemet High School principle told the Huffington Post that the teens in the crosswalk were doing everything right. They hadn't been goofing off or made a foolish mistake. They weren't taunting the driver, or distracting him from operating his automobile.

Nine people were injured by the speeding truck. Six girls and two boys from the hospital were victims of the crash, as well as a 60-year-old woman. No one knows her ties to the school, or why she was in the crosswalk with the students. The students were headed toward the student parking lot and football stadium. The truck's driver is an 18 year old boy who was not intoxicated by alcohol or drugs when the crash occurred. Police disclosed that they don't know why he shot though a red light, or how he was able to gain momentum so fast. Along with his twin, he also had a 16-year-old friend in the back seat of the truck. The three boys immediately exited the vehicle after the impact and offered to help.

Witnesses told the press that they believe the truck accelerated into the intersection, ran a red light, and hit the pedestrians with fatal force. The truck had been modified for off-road use. One father who had just pulled out of the student parking lot after picking up his son says that he started yelling as the car sped towards the intersection. He remembers that two of the girls were injured severely, and he did not think that they would survive. As of right now, the CHP is still trying to decide whether or not they want to file criminal charges against the truck driver. They have no reason to think that he intended to cause the collision. They will inspect the vehicle to see if there was a malfunction, and review the tapes of the accident that were captured by various security cameras on the school campus.

There are many reasons that this teen driver may have chosen to speed towards the intersection. Maybe he was distracted by his friend and brother, fiddling with the radio, eating a snack, or talking on the phone. There is also a possibility that his foot got caught on the brake, which is why he gunned the engine through the red light. Maybe a water bottle or another item rolled under the brake, so that he could not slow his car. Whatever the reason, it is important to note the threats to safe-driving around you, keep alert, and always check intersections and crosswalks before proceeding to avoid an accident like this one.