Who:
Chelsea Northrup, 21, of Saline, was killed at around 9:56 PM Sunday night on 5/4/14 in Freedom Township, MI, on Parker Rd south of Scio Church Rd. She drove a southbound gray 2007 Ford Fusion, and was hit by Garrett Roe, 36, who was northbound and crossed the center line in his silver 2013 Ford F-150. He was drunk and using his cell phone, and had non-life threatening injuries. Chelsey died at the scene.
How:
Per police reports, Roe was northbound and drunk when his cell phone rang. He claimed to have reached for his phone, removed his eyes from the road, crossed the center line, and struck the other vehicle. Police additionally suspected alcohol was related to the crash.
Why:
This is another sad case of drunk driving mixed with distracted driving from cell phone use. One third of fatal crashes in the US continue to be directly attributable to alcohol use, and this claimed Chelsey’s life that night.
Investigating the physics of the crash, it is sadly not surprising that Northrup died while the F-150 occupant lived, as her vehicle was massively outweighed by the Ford. The 2007 Fusion weighs 3384 lbs and comes with a “good” IIHS frontal score. It was impacted by a 2013 F-150, that weighs 5199 lbs, or 154% of the Fusion’s weight.
As a result, the Fusion’s driver automatically faced 54% more force in the collision than she would have if she’d collided with another Fusion, placing her at a severe disadvantage in the collision that would not have existed had we placed greater restrictions on manufacturers’ abilities to create and citizens’ abilities to drive needlessly heavy vehicles on our roads.
Given the likely speeds of the collision (~55 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 713KJ of energy into the Fusion. The Fusion frontal impact test simulates 245KJ of energy (a Fusion impacting another at 40 mph). In other words, the Fusion driver faced 291% of the force she’d have experienced in the type of crash her car was rated for. Given the speed of the collision, particularly combined with the “acceptable” head/neck subscore of the Fusion, her odds of survival were, sadly, quite small.
The F-150’s frontal test simulates 377KJ of energy (a Ford impacting another at 40 mph), indicating that its occupants would have faced 123% of the forces the vehicle was rated to safely withstand, given that the Fusion imparted 464KJ of energy into the F-150. This was clearly a survivable collision for the Ford’s occupants, which was reflected in the driver’s survival and lack of severe injuries.
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