Washington County, Missouri — June 10, 2012

A Steelville teenager was hospitalized Sunday afternoon after the pickup truck in which she was a passenger hit a tree on Gobblers Knob Road.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the crash occurred at 3 p.m., about three miles south of Pigeon Roost Road, when 30-year-old Bruce L. Williams, also of Steelville, lost control of his northbound Dodge 1500 and took it off the road before it crashed into a tree.

A 14-year-old passenger riding in the bed of the truck, Brandi J. Smith, reportedly suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Washington County Memorial Hospital.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were more than 17,500 fatal single-vehicle accidents in the U.S. in 2007, and since 1991 vehicles are leaving the roadway in a higher percentage of single-vehicle crashes.

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