Teen dies when long hair catches in steering wheel

zwiebel

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A teenage girl died after a car crash when her long blonde hair got caught in the steering wheel, according to her brother who survived the accident. When she tried to jerk her hair free, the car veered across the road, head-on into another car (two men in that vehicle are expected to survive).

I can't find any mention of if she was actually the driver though, oddly. I wonder what kind of steering wheel it was too. One of those metal, custom ones with lots of holes maybe?

'Caterina Alzetta, 19, was with her brother Pietro, 21, driving through the Italian town of Montereale Valcellina, when she wound down her window.'

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/teenage-girl-dies-after-car-3929271#ixzz38rI37IKe

'(They) had to be cut free from the wreckage and she died later in hospital from her injuries.

The brother and sister were the children of Michelle Alzetta, who is head of the local ambulance rescue emergency service in the northern Italian town of Montereale Valcellina.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ar-veered-oncoming-traffic.html#ixzz38rJxsF6H
 

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You know, I wasn't really happy with the way this was reported so didn't post it for hours. Now I did, I've rechecked and there is an Italian story coming up. I don't speak the language so daren't post details.

Maybe Italian speaking posters could check for me? The word 'omicidio' is certainly setting my alarm bells clanging.

http://www.direttanews.it/2014/07/2...procura-indaga-fratello-per-omicidio-colposo/
 
Per Google Translate, the title reads, "The absurd death of Catherine Alzetta. The prosecutor's office investigates the brother of manslaughter"

Meanwhile, yesterday there was a breakthrough in the investigation into the untimely death of beloved student from friends and classmates. "The Prosecution of Pordenone - shows the mattino.it - ​​wants to shed light on the dynamics of the accident and opened a file with the possibility of manslaughter charges borne by the brother of the girl, Alzetta Piero, who was driving the finished car off the road. The judge has appointed a consultant expertise to understand why the hair of the victim are stuck behind the wheel of the car. "
 
Her hair would get caught behind the steering, i checked mine there a bit of an opening where it rotates. I think maybe the brother was speeding? It seems a fluky accident in my mind..jmo
 
Unless that is an old picture is it even long enough to reach the steering wheel base?
It sounds more like her hair got stuck in the process of the wreck.
I guess she may have tried to rip it out prior to wrecking. My daughter has really long hair. She'd grab it and ask you to stop. No way would she just yank it!

Something's missing from this story.

All posts are MOO
 
So many conflicting media articles. She was driving, she wasn't driving.

What's the truth?

How sadly ironic is this?
they were the children of Michelle Alzetta, who is head of the local ambulance rescue emergency service in the northern Italian town of Montereale Valcellina.'
 
I have really long hair.

I have got it stuck on the turn signals which by default are on the steering wheel....so maybe thats how it happened? I shut it in the car door quiet often, it also gets stuck in the hole the seatbelt retracts from.
 
Sounds hunky to me I have had down past my butt, and drove and rode in cars with windows down and never got caught in the steering wheel. I drive a convertible often never had hair issues.
 
I think this story has got a few hinkey meters going. Very long hair does not easily get caught in a steering wheel, and even if "somehow" it did no-one would jerk it out and cause a car to crash. I doubt jerking it out would cause a car to crash. It is understandable that the Italian authorities doubt the story.
Thanks for this article zwiebel and please let us know how this story goes.....it has got us intrigued. We don't believe the brother's story (neither do the Italian authorities). :cat:
 
The brother might have interpreted what he saw just prior to the crash as his sister's hair getting caught, when in fact something else happened. He must have been seriously traumatized, so it's a wonder that he could remember anything at all. I was in a collision and have no memory of it whatsoever.

Did she reach down to get something she dropped at her feet? Did she try to get something out of her shoe? Did she pass out and fall to one side? We probably will never know what really happened.
 
Before posting further, I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Caterina. They are facing a double tragedy now - the loss of their daughter and the possibility of their son facing manslaughter charges. It must be devastating.

Via google translate (so please correct anything I've got wrong, Italian speakers) this article says that it was 19 year old Peter Alzetta who was driving the car, and he'd only had his license for 6 months. He has been 'entered on the docket' ( indicted maybe?) for manslaughter.

The prosecution is based on a technical consultant who appears to have reconstructed the crash scenario as Caterina bending to pick up a CD, her hair getting tangled in the steering wheel, Peter losing control of the car and then overcompensating to avoid a ditch, and veering across the road to hit the other vehicle head on.

The car was a Ford Fiesta, in case that makes any difference to anyone who knows about cars.

Article in original Italian:
http://www.ilgazzettino.it/NORDEST/...lzetta_pordenone_venezia/notizie/822102.shtml
 
You know, I wasn't really happy with the way this was reported so didn't post it for hours. Now I did, I've rechecked and there is an Italian story coming up. I don't speak the language so daren't post details.

Maybe Italian speaking posters could check for me? The word 'omicidio' is certainly setting my alarm bells clanging.

http://www.direttanews.it/2014/07/2...procura-indaga-fratello-per-omicidio-colposo/

I don't know about Italian, but keep in mind that even in English "homicide" doesn't mean "murder", it merely means death due to the actions of another *advertiser censored* sapien, whether deliberate, justified or accidental.
 
Before posting further, I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Caterina. They are facing a double tragedy now - the loss of their daughter and the possibility of their son facing manslaughter charges. It must be devastating.

Via google translate (so please correct anything I've got wrong, Italian speakers) this article says that it was 19 year old Peter Alzetta who was driving the car, and he'd only had his license for 6 months. He has been 'entered on the docket' ( indicted maybe?) for manslaughter.

The prosecution is based on a technical consultant who appears to have reconstructed the crash scenario as Caterina bending to pick up a CD, her hair getting tangled in the steering wheel, Peter losing control of the car and then overcompensating to avoid a ditch, and veering across the road to hit the other vehicle head on.

The car was a Ford Fiesta, in case that makes any difference to anyone who knows about cars.

Article in original Italian:
http://www.ilgazzettino.it/NORDEST/...lzetta_pordenone_venezia/notizie/822102.shtml

Thank you Zwiebel, you said the car was a Ford Fiesta, that makes this even more intriguing. A Ford Fiesta is a closed in sedan type of car. I had somehow imagined this had happened in an open top sports car where her long hair was being blown around in the breeze.
In a Ford Fiesta her long hair would hang down and would not be blown around in any type of breeze, unless the window was open. Ford Fiestas do have air conditioning so it is unlikely the window was wound down.
Now we are informed that she was the passenger, and she had bent down to pick up a CD she must have dropped. Unless she dropped the CD into the drivers side of the car that still does not explain how her hair became entangled in the steering wheel. Her head had to have been over on the drivers side, as the CD player is in the middle of the car.
Whatever happened this is a very interesting story. I am sure the Car Accident Investigation Unit have investigated many other accidents as intriguing as this.
 
Maybe she dropped it and it rolled onto the driver side mat. She reaches over to grab it with her left hand, head down, hair blows and gets tangled in steering wheel? Or, brother loses control of car while she is having him move his foot so she can get the CD?
 
A high school friend of mine had a minor accident when we were young. His girlfriend also injured her head on the steering wheel. There was a reason he had the accident, and a reason her head was so close to the steering wheel. I mean, it's a really far out Flowers-In-The-Attic type suggestion, but there are other reasons her hair could have gotten tangled, and those reasons would prompt the brother to not totally be forthcoming with the whole truth.

After being on WS, I don't dismiss any wacky ideas anymore.
 
I'm glad you said it T4Tide because I was thinking it too.

What you described above happened to one of my girlfriends except her hair got caught around the lever on the seat that you push to move it forward or back. He hit a parked car, thankfully not going very fast.
 

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