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Friday, April 12, 2002 Family tragedy on the highwayBy DANIEL LATHROP KORONA — Her ear against a cell phone, 17-year-old Amanda Cross was driving to the beach Thursday morning with a carload of children when tragedy struck. Her car drifted onto the right shoulder of the road and she overcorrected. The car swerved left across two lanes of traffic, back to the right across the road, hit a tree and spun into railroad tracks, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Her friend, 14-year-old Dee Dee Bowen, was thrown through the windshield to her death. On the cell phone with Amanda was Dee Dee's mother, Linda Kilby, who was driving a car ahead of the kids. By the time she knew something was wrong, it was too late. She turned to find her 14-year-old daughter lying dead on the tracks. Amanda and three others, ages 5, 8 and 14, were airlifted to hospitals in Daytona Beach and Jacksonville where they were listed in critical and serious conditions. In a two-car caravan, the group of friends from Starke was taking advantage of sunny weather and Bradford County's Spring Break for public schools to drive to Daytona Beach for a day at Kilby's time-share unit, said her stepson Jason. Amanda, the driver, has been living with the Kilbys, Jason said. Also in the car were her two nephews, Chase Brown, 5, and Brandon Brown, 8, and Dee Dee's 14-year-old boyfriend, Chad Phillips. The accident occurred at 9:10 a.m. on U.S. 1 near the Volusia-Flagler line when Amanda lost control of the car, the Florida Highway Patrol said. Dee Dee, who was riding in the back seat of the four-door compact car, was pronounced dead at the scene. Eight-year-old Brandon also was thrown from the car and landed on the railroad tracks. Amanda, Chad and Chase had to be cut out of the car. Troopers said only 5-year-old Chase, riding in the front passenger seat, wore a seat belt. When Kilby and her passengers pulled up at the crash in front of St. Mary's Cemetery, they still didn't know what had happened. Kilby sat by the side of U.S. 1 and sobbed as paramedics went to work. "They didn't really know they'd had an accident until they turned around," said Carla Johnson, a motorist who saw the wreck and stopped to help. Florida Highway Patrol Capt. Brent Coates said cell phone use likely contributed to the crash. He said talking on the phone can cause both loss of control and exaggerated efforts at recovery that only make things worse. Flagler County is one of the few counties in the state where officials have considered banning drivers from talking on cell phones. But state legislators voted last month to prevent local governments from restricting cell phone use until the state can study how often the phones actually contribute to accidents. Troopers are investigating the crash and charges have not been ruled out, Coates said. Meanwhile, Chase and Brandon were in critical condition in the pediatric intensive care unit at Shands University Medical Center in Jacksonville on Thursday night. Amanda was in critical condition at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach and Chad was in serious condition at Halifax. Staff Writers Carl Laundrie and Andy Lyons and researchers Tom Rabeno and Barbara Buttleman contributed to this report. |
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