Parents Accept Settlement In Girl's Death in Test Drive.

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Author: Hurst, Marianne D.

The parents of an 8th grader who was killed while test driving an electric car designed by high school students in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will receive a $400,000 insurance settlement.

Students at Kennedy High School were demonstrating cars they'd built for the Iowa Electrathon on a closed course at McKinley Middle School when the accident occurred last May.

Megan Hollingshead died when she lost control of the car going into a curve, according to district officials. The car smashed through a barrier, and Megan suffered a fatal blow to the head. She was wearing safety gear, including a helmet and a seat belt.

"It was a freak accident," said Lew Finch, the superintendent of the 18,000-student district, who said that the car was going about 15 miles per hour.

The school district no longer allows middle school students to test drive the cars, a practice which has become increasingly popular in recent years. (See Education Week, May 7, 2003.)

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By Marianne D. Hurst