14-Year-Old Mesa Girl Dies in Rollover

A 14-year-old girl died after she was ejected from a car that rolled over on the 202 on Saturday evening. The girl’s mother was driving on the 202 near Recker Road when the rear tire of her car blew out. According to DPS, the woman then braked which caused the car to veer sideways and slide into the dirt median. The car then continued into the cable barriers, where it came to a stop upside down.

The girl, identified as Michelle Miranda, was not wearing her seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene. The mother was airlifted to the hospital and her current condition is unknown. She was wearing her seatbelt.

Don’t know how many times I have to say this—apparently, not enough.

Seatbelts save lives!!!!!

Arizona law requires that front seat passengers be seatbelted. Arizona law also requires that each passenger 6 or under in the vehicle be seatbelted, no matter where he/she is sitting. As parents, we have a responsibility to make sure that our children are seatbelted at all times. As adult, we have a duty to comply with Arizona law and make sure that all occupants 16 and under are seatbelted. The failure to follow these rules may bring civil liability if a minor in your vehicle sustains injury as a result of seatbelt non-use.

Another factor in this case is tire maintenance. In Arizona, we are probably more likely to have a tire blowout than people in most other states. The high temperatures that beat on Arizona in the summers also beat on our tires. You can help avoid this by regularly checking your air levels in your tires and making sure they are at the manufacturer’s recommended level. Doing this more often in the summer would not be considered unreasonable.

Let’s recap:

1) SEATBELTS! SEATBELTS! SEATBELTS!

2) Regularly check air levels in and be aware of the age and tread depth of your tires.

Please remember, both of these things only take a few seconds to do. As we have seen, they can make all of the difference in the world. Please, don’t let the next one be you.


**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at www.ZacharAssociates.com