Crossing the Line video released for Teen Driver Safety Week
Dover- Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the US. During Teen Driver Safety Week (Oct 19-25), the Delaware Teen Driver Task Force released a video titled “Crossing the Line”. The video tells the story of a 2012 fatal crash involving 17 year-old Andre Smith who was a passenger in a speeding vehicle driven by 19 year old driver Mar’Kese Marshall-Horsey. Andre Smith was killed in the crash on April 12, 2012 on Route 896 in Middletown.
Andre Smith was a high school senior and star football player at Appoquinimink High School and was to graduate June 13th, 2012. Unfortunately Andre did not make it to graduation day. After spending the day with friends and on the way home, Andre was riding in the passenger seat when the driver was speeding and lost control of his SUV, swearing into oncoming traffic. The passenger side was struck by another large vehicle, killing Andre instantly.
Speed was one of the contributing factors in this fatal incident said Sean Lugg, Deputy Attorney General for the Delaware Department of Justice. “If it wasn’t for the speed, this collision would not have happened.”
Between 2011 and 2013, drivers aged 19 years and under were responsible for the most speed related injury crashes (22%) in Delaware. Male drivers accounted for two-thirds (2/3) of those crashes. Kevin M. Bradley M.D., Associate Medical Director of Trauma at Christiana Care Health System, believes young folks are prone to crashes because there is a sense of invincibility and something bad won’t happen to them. “Speed is a factor in injury, because when traveling at a high rate of speed, you are more prone to get into a crash and following that crash you are more likely to have more severe injuries,” Dr. Bradley said.
Nineteen year old Mar’Kese Marshall-Horsey was the driver in Andre Smith’s fatal crash. He was charged with the reckless killing of his friend. “I lost everything; I lost everything and everybody,” said Marshall-Horsey. “One accident put everything out the window.”
The driver is currently serving a 5-year prison term at Howard Young Correctional Facility as a result of his actions that lead to the fatal crash.
“Crossing the Line” documents the consequences that many have suffered as a result of this tragic crash and will also become part of the revised Driver’s Education curriculum to be distributed to all drivers’ education teachers in the State of Delaware.
The video can be viewed and shared on the Office of Highway Safety Arrive Alive DE YouTube channel http://youtu.be/RLiFdKFOkpU.