The Equinox was northbound on H 121 and crossed leftward over the center line into oncoming traffic, impacting a southbound RX450. Both vehicles obeyed the 55 mph speed limit. Kirk received on-site CPR before being airlifted with his mother. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Kirk was in a backless booster seat in the back and was unconscious after the collision. News reports suggested the driver of the Equinox may have fallen asleep while driving. Police indicated very little braking occurred and that the vehicles impacted almost directly on license plates, suggesting a nearly complete head on collision. Furthermore, the Equinox attempted to correct at the last moment, but the Lexus had made the same correction attempt, resulting in the collision.

Why:

This case, sadly, appears to have occurred due to distracted driving–specifically, one of the drivers may have fallen asleep behind the wheel. Fatigue significantly increases one’s odds of being involved in a fatal collision, although such cases typically occur at night rather than during the day. What makes this case particularly tragic, however, is that the child’s death was likely preventable.

Looking at the physics of the crash, every occupant should have lived, including the child, had he been properly restrained in a rear facing car seat. The 2011 Equinox weighs up to 4189 lbs in the 6-cylinder AWD configuration and has a “good” frontal score. It was impacted by a 2012 RX450, which weighs  up to 4392 lbs, or 105% of the Equinox’s weight.  These differences were negligible. For our purposes, the vehicles crashed into their twins at high speed, so let’s just look at the forces imparted on the vehicle with fatalities–the Equinox.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (~55 mph), the Lexus likely imparted at least 602KJ of energy into the Equinox. The Equinox frontal impact test simulates 304KJ of energy (an Equinox impacting another at 40 mph). In other words, the Equinox occupants faced 198% of the force they’d have experienced in the type of crash it was rated for. These were tremendous forces, but they were survivable ones. This is evident not only based on the high rate of frontal impact survivors with forces below the 200% threshold in other cases I’ve looked at, but in this case based on the intact A-frame and passenger survival space evident in the photos. Had the child been properly restrained in a rear facing seat or in a forward-facing harness, he would possibly have survived these forces. The fact that every properly restrained individual in both vehicles did survive is additional evidence that the collision was survivable.

This was ultimately a preventable tragedy. The collision might not have occurred had the Equinox stayed in its lane, but the death might not have occurred had the child been properly restrained. Every child who weighs less than 50 lbs should ideally be sitting in a rear facing car seat, provided he or she fits the height limits. If that is not possible, forward-face instead of booster until it’s no longer possible, or until a child is at least 8.

Rear facing is much, much safer, and would prevent so many needless deaths. Similarly, a forward-facing and harnessed child would also have been better protected than one in a booster.

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