A 17-year-old girl has been charged with multiple offenses in connection with a fatal motorcycle accident that occurred last June, according to the Peoria Journal Star.
Krystin Rennie, a Washington resident who was 16 at the time of the incident, was driving through East Peoria, Illinois, on June 16, 2010. Dale King, a motorcyclist who was riding with his wife near the intersection of East Washington Street and Campus Avenue, told East Peoria police that he was trying to pull off the road when Rennie's Ford Mustang came straight toward his bike in his lane of traffic, reported the newspaper.
The paper said King's wife, Angela, died at the scene as the result of multiple blunt force trauma sustained in the accident. It is unclear as to whether she was wearing a helmet.
The source said an Illinois State Police accident reconstruction determined that Rennie was driving in the opposite lane of traffic at the time of the crash.
After being questioned by police at the scene, Rennie eventually admitted that she had smoked marijuana multiple times on the day of the accident.
Researchers say that driving under the influence of marijuana can severely impair a motorists' reaction times. A study from the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that habitual users are 9.5 times more likely to get into a car accident.
