GREENVILLE, N.C. - A deadly car accident Friday morning in Greenville became the latest in a long list of them across eastern Carolina.
Some of the more serious accidents have another common denominator. They involved younger drivers.
A 20-year-old falls asleep at the wheel on Greenville Boulevard; a 17-year-old speeding on Thomas Langston Road, while an 18-year-old crosses the center line on Cemetery Road.
All three errors lead to accidents by young drivers, but can it all be blamed on a lack of experience?
North Carolina State Trooper, Megan Kongs says “no.”
"They're distracted by the passengers; they're distracted by other things such as their telephones, GPS and radios," said Kongs.
Kongs says it's distracted driving that seems to be the most common among these wrecks. In fact, the wrecks that happened on Greenville Boulevard, Thomas Langston Road and on Cemetery Road, all had more than two people in the car at the time of the accident.
"There’s a lot of distractions in the backseat. They want to talk and the driver wants to pay attention to what's going on inside the vehicle," said Kongs.
It's a distraction that proved deadly in two of those wrecks. The most recent on Cemetery Road is still under investigation.
The car's owner and mother of one of the victims was at the scene Sunday. She wouldn't go on camera, but admits distractions almost killed her daughter.
Her seatbelt saved her.
"I would say a good portion of fatality wrecks are due to the fact that the passengers or driver was not wearing a seatbelt," said Kongs.
Kongs says it's a behavior parents can help change by teaching the importance of driving safely early on.
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