Questions raised after crash death

07:01 PM CDT on Monday, October 3, 2005

By MELISSA MCGUIRE / KVUE News

Authorities continued their investigation Monday into a crash that killed a high school student.

Abraham Gomez, 15, died Friday afternoon in a crash near Interstate 35. Counselors at Connally High school were on hand all day to talk with students.

The 17-year-old driver of the car, whose name has not been released, lost control on the I-35 frontage road at Wells Branch Parkway.

The car was carrying six Connally High band members. They were on their way to a movie after an early release from school Friday.

"The trumpet players had this thing, every weekend they would see a horror movie, that was their way to bond, and so, they were out early that day - that's when the accident happened - they were all together," said Chico Portillo, Connally High Band Director.

The students in the vehicle were ages 14 to 17.

This accident has raised some concerns about the safety of teenage drivers, and the laws surrounding what's allowed and what's not.

New drivers have many rules to follow. There are three stages: stage one requires them to drive with an adult who is 21-years old or older.

At stage two, teens are restricted from driving with more than one passenger under 21-years old.

After six months, young drivers reach stage three, which has no restrictions.

"Depending on what stage the driver was in, she may or may not have been violating any laws," said Trooper Robbie Barrera, Texas Department of Public Safety.

Another law in question is seatbelts.

there were six students in the five-person vehicle. Since everyone in the vehicle was 17 or younger, everyone who had a seatbelt should have been wearing it.

Police won't say yet if the teens were buckled-up.

"In other words, if there are five seatbelts and six individuals, only five are required to be seatbelted in."

Many factors may have contributed to the tragic ending, but people who knew Abaham just hope it comes with a lesson learned.

"The thing with young people, they feel so invincible. This has struck a cord with them and caused them to reflect. Hopefully that's the impact... to be safer, more careful," Portillo said.