A 16-year-old Fairfax girl was killed Friday night when her sport-utility vehicle flipped on its side and skidded into the back of astopped car driven by a friend, Fairfax County police said yesterday.
Lauren Sausville, a junior at Fairfax High School, was the 17thteenager killed in a traffic accident in the Washington area sincemid-September.
Police said the driver of the car she was following, a 17-year-old Fairfax student, had been drinking, and he was charged withdriving while intoxicated.
Police were still investigating where Sausville and her friend hadbeen Friday night before they reached Colchester Road and FairfaxStation Road in a sparsely populated area of southern Fairfax.Sausville was driving a 1999 Ford Explorer, and her friend, also aFairfax High student, was driving a 1994 Mazda MX6. There were nopassengers in either car.
Police said the 17-year-old was heading south on Colchester Roadjust after 11 p.m. and stopped the Mazda at the stop sign for FairfaxStation Road. He then watched the accident unfold in his rearviewmirror. Police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said the youth reportedwatching the Explorer run off the road into an embankment, flip ontothe driver's side and skid down the road toward him.
As the Explorer got closer, the youth tried to pull away, Jenningssaid, but the Explorer was sliding too fast and slammed into theright rear of the Mazda. The impact crushed the roof of the Explorerand drove Sausville back into the rear passenger compartment.
Sausville was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said it tookabout 90 minutes to extricate her body from the wreckage.
Police estimate that Sausville was driving 55 to 60 mph onColchester Road, which has a speed limit of 35 mph, Lt. Dan Townsendof the police traffic unit said. He said she had been driving forfour months.
'This crash had all the variables,' Townsend said. 'There were nolights on that road, you've got an unstable vehicle, an inexperienceddriver and an overcorrection with the steering wheel.'
A fatal crash involving teenagers on Interstate 95 in October alsoinvolved an SUV and an overcorrection. In that accident, a 16-year-old driving a Cadillac Escalade started to change lanes, realizedthat another car was already there and swerved back to her originallane, causing the Escalade to topple, police said. A passenger on theside where the Escalade landed, 17-year-old Laura Lynam ofAlexandria, was killed.
The youth driving the Mazda was not seriously hurt, though therear of the car was crumpled and the rear window shattered. While hewas talking to police, Jennings said, officers suspected he wasintoxicated. His blood-alcohol content was later measured at .08,Jennings said, which is the state's defined level for intoxication,and he was arrested. His name was not released because he is ajuvenile.
Jennings said Sausville's blood-alcohol level was not available,pending the completion of toxicology tests.
In an attempt to deter drunken driving during the holiday season,Fairfax police on Wednesday launched their Safe December program witha roving squad of officers focused on arresting impaired motorists.In the first three nights of the program, the officers made 28 DWIarrests in the county.
Sausville's family was not available to comment yesterday.
