As recent research has shown, a teen driver with multiple teen passengers in the car is more likely to get into car accidents than a teen driving alone or with older passengers. A recent wreck in Knox County seems to lend credence to that argument.

An 18-year-old woman was driving a Subaru with five teenage passengers. According to Knox County officers, the teens left someone’s house late at night and were “goofing off.” Driver error apparently led the vehicle to miss a turn, and it crashed into a tree on Mourfield Road near Bluegrass Road.

Many of the students, including seniors who graduated from the Christian Academy of Knoxville last week, were injured. One, a basketball player at the school, underwent surgery over the weekend after she suffered internal injuries and head trauma. She also suffered several facial fractures.

Doctors say that she has made good progress as she recovers at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. In the meantime, her friends, family and others at the school were keeping vigil. All of the passengers involved in the crash stayed with the family at the hospital.

Other injuries suffered by passengers in the vehicle include a broken leg and elbow, concussions and other more minor injuries. At least three of the passengers riding in the Subaru were not wearing seatbelts, according to reports.

No drugs or alcohol are suspected in the crash, but charges are pending against the driver. Police are citing “reckless driving” as the cause of the wreck.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel, “CAK grads injured in wreck recovering,” Megan Boehnke, May 29, 2012