PRINCE GEORGE, Va. (WTVR)--Family members are still trying to cope with the loss of 17-year-old Marvin Massenburg Jr., who died in a tragic accident on his way to school Tuesday.
"We're holding up the best that we can, um, it’s very very difficult for the parents and for his family,” Deborah Massenburg, Marvin's Aunt said [Read more about the accident here].
Massenburg died when his car plunged into the Blackwater Swamp. The high school senior was driving his Honda Accord when he pulled onto the shoulder to allow a police car, with its sirens and lights going, to pass.
But Massenburg’s car never stopped, and it travelled 135 feet before hitting the water.
Family members said they're going to need answers to questions; including is there any dash cam video from the police car of the accident and the lack of guardrails at the swamp [Scroll to bottom to see photo album of young Marvin].
Investigators said the Prince George police cruiser was not equipped with a Dash Cam. It also turned out that the call he was headed to was a false alarm.
VDOT reported that although about 9,600 vehicles travel this section of Courthouse Road, there has never been a formal request for guardrails here--but that could change.
“We're certainly going to do the guardrail evaluation to make sure, if it meets warrants for a guardrail, that the guardrail is determined to be needed, we can then go through the process of getting that installed, should it be needed and should it be installable,” Dale Totten, VDOT Engineer, said.
A review of the road is routine for VDOT After a traffic fatality, it is routine for VDOT to review a road.
This stretch of Courthouse Road isn't known for accidents, but VDOT wants to prvent future deaths like the tragic one of this teen.
"Is there something that we can do to solve potentially that issue but to then provide the future protection for motorists down the road,” Totten said.
"He had strong values and morals and was very respectful, extremely respectful, so we're going to miss him,” said his aunt. "He just had a whole life ahead of him."
