A teenager from Newville was killed in a car crash Monday in Cumberland County.

Cumberland County Coroner Todd C. Eckenrode said 17 year-old Jacob Smith was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 10:00 p.m. Monday. According to officials with the Pennsylvania State Police at Carlisle, Smith was traveling north at a high speed when he lost control of the car at the crest of a hill. Police say the car veered off the roadway, through a front yard, struck a concrete pad and began to roll.

Eckenrode said Smith was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Smith was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled. He died as a result of head trauma, said Eckenrode.

If your life has been disrupted by a car accident, please contact the Harrisburg personal injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., for a realistic and professional assessment of your unique case. Please call 215-329-3511.

A man in Pennsylvania was killed Friday while filling his car at a gas station.

According to Todd Eckenrode, the Cumberland County Coroner, 19 year-old L. David Byers was pumping gas into his Toyota Yaris at a BP station in Lower Allen, Pennsylvania shortly before 3:00 a.m. Friday, when gasoline vapor fumes caught fire. Byers was killed after inhaling superheated gases from the flash fire. State police say Byers fell victim to a rare phenomenon where static electric discharge sparked the gasoline vapor.

Bill Renkes, a spokesman with the Petroleum Equipment Institute in Oklahoma, blames Byers' youth for the tragic incident. Renkes said younger people are unaware of the dangerous of static electricity at gas stations. Older people know to touch the car door before pumping gas, Renkes says, which acts as a ground to discharge static electricity.

"There are 11 billion fill-ups a year," Renkes said. "This is the second fatality we know of. That makes the chances of dying this way, what, two in tens of billions…"

If you have lost a loved one to an avoidable tragedy, the law allows you some recourse in the form of a lawsuit against the individuals or institutions responsible for the wrongful death of your loved one. Please contact the Harrisburg personal injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 215-329-3511.