STUART, Fla. — If the teen driver of a Pontiac Firebird racing at 90 mph had hit the breaks a split-second sooner, two female victims killed in the crash might still be alive, according to an expert who testified Thursday.

"Had [the driver] begun to break even a tenth of a second sooner, the Cadillac would have gone and he would have slipped by," Brian Pfeiffer told jurors.

Pfeiffer, an expert in accident reconstruction, testified for the plaintiffs and estimated the speed at which Stephen Bromstrup rammed a rented Cadillac at 10 to 15 mph faster than the highway patrol incident record.

Regardless of which speed is accurate, 16-year-old Stephen Bromstrup was traveling at least three times the 25-mph speed limit through a residential area after a June 17, 2002, pool party hosted by an affluent family.

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After the party, as Bromstrup and two friends raced toward Kanner Highway, Bromstrup skidded through a stop sign and careened into a speeding Cadillac carrying four people. Sarah Stone, 14, and Alexandra Quaroni, 13, died at the scene. The driver and one passenger survived.

Stone's parents, Tim and Elizabeth, are suing John and Barbara O'Brien for wrongful death, alleging the couple did not do enough to prevent Bromstrup and the other 18 teens who attended their teenage daughter's barbecue from consuming alcohol at their home. The alleged violation falls under Florida's "Open House Party" statute designed to deter underage drinking.

Pfeiffer provided the jury with their first glimpse of the crash scene as he led them through a slide presentation that showed Bromstrop's mangled sports car and an almost unrecognizable Cadillac.

Bromstrup blindsided the car, crushing the passenger side. No photographs of the victims were shown.

Bromstrup, who testified he drank three beers plus a few borrowed sips on the night of the accident, said he was just showing off and that alcohol played no role in the crash. According to the Martin County Medical Center, Bromstrup's blood-alcohol level measured 0.077 shortly after the accident and .041 several hours later. Both results are below Florida's legal limit for adults of 0.08 percent.

Despite the test results, attorneys for the Stones are arguing Bromstrup was impaired at the time of the crash and any impairment, according to Pfeiffer, is critical when a driver gets behind the wheel.

"If the reaction time of an individual is delayed to some degree," Pfeiffer said, "even a small delay can have catastrophic results."

To reinforce their claim, the plaintiff's attorney, Laurence Huttman, questioned a expert in toxicology about the effect Bromstrup's drinking had on his 135-pound frame the night of the crash.

"His motor coordination was impaired," Dr. Robert Montgomery said.

As the day's first witness, Montgomery said the steak, chicken and hot dog Bromstrup ate at the barbecue did not interrupt the absorption of alcohol into Bromstrup's bloodstream.

"In social circumstances, food in the stomach may delay [alcohol absorption] a little, but isn't relevant," Montgomery said.

After the plaintiffs rested, the defense called in their own expert, Dr. Stefan Rose, to counter that claim.

Rose, a forensic toxicologist, testified that the food would have slowed the rate Bromstrup absorbed the alcohol, which would lower the concentration of alcohol in his blood.

"The effect of food prolongs alcohol in the blood stream," Rose said. "[It] decreases peak concentration."

Policing parent or absent father?

Co-defendant John O'Brien, who referred to his two-acre compound as his "castle" and as everything he "had worked for," said the first time he discovered beer by a fire pit on his property was also the first time he "realized kids love to disrespect people."

O'Brien read aloud from his August 2003 deposition and cut a very different picture than his wife, Barbara. O'Brien depicted himself as a "detail man" who doesn't miss a thing, including any beer swiped from the refrigerator he inventories nightly.

O'Brien testified that he had twice found empty alcohol containers at his home and that he had disciplined his daughter for both infractions.

"My intent was the kids probably can't be trusted, so I had to get better control of them," O'Brien said. "But I surely wasn't going to give up on them and send them to the streets and have them driving around."

O'Brien said he arrived home between 8:45 and 9 p.m. the night of the party and that he spent the rest of the night policing the area and talking to the kids.

"I was more worried they were going to hurt each other jumping in the pool," O'Brien said. "I let the party go on because [the alcohol] was discovered early in the night."

At the end of the night, O'Brien said he was reassured that none of the kids were impaired because no one, including Bromstrup, was falling down or staggering.

"I walked Stephen to his car," O'Brien said. "He hobbled on his crutches; he was fine."

Bromstrup had an injured ankle at the time of the accident.

"I even asked him how you drive with that thing," O'Brien told the jury. "He said, 'It's difficult.'"

Bromstrup avoided going to trial after pleading no contest to two counts of vehicular homicide and four counts of culpable negligence. He is serving a seven-year prison sentence.

The trial, being held at the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Martin County, will continue Friday and is being streamed live on Court TV Extra. Closing arguments are expected on Monday.