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Chelsea Bragg, 16 -- Car Accident

Published Friday, May 05, 2006 by Admin | E-mail this post

[5/3/06]

DAPHNE, Alabama - A Daphne High School sophomore killed in a rollover crash Wednesday evening was apparently using a cell phone while driving and that may have led her to lose control of the car, police said Thursday.

Chelsea Ann Bragg, 16, was headed west on U.S. 90 between Bayview Drive and Baldwin County 13 around 5:30 p.m. when the 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue she was driving veered off the north shoulder of the road, Daphne police said in a news release.

She "appeared to jerk the steering wheel to get back on the road," and the car rolled twice, landing upright in the highway and blocking both directions of traffic, according to police.

Investigators believe that Bragg was talking on her cell phone or using it to send a text message at the time of the wreck, according to Daphne Police Capt. Scott Taylor.

"And factor in that this person's only 16. An inexperienced driver being distracted by using the cell phone -- that just makes it more of a risk that something could happen," said Taylor, head of the department's traffic division.

Bragg was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:10 p.m., according to Baldwin County Deputy Coroner Stan Vinson. A passenger in the car, a 16-year-old girl whose name was not released because of her age, was taken to Thomas Hospital in Fairhope with minor injuries, police said. Information about her medical condition was not available Thursday.

Bragg was not wearing her seat belt, according to Taylor, who said Bragg "definitely would've had a greater chance of walking away" had she been wearing one. The passenger in the car was wearing a seat belt, Taylor said.

There was no indication that speed, alcohol or drugs played a role in the wreck, according to Taylor.

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