Deborah Parker, 58, in Sturbridge, MA, Killed in Car vs. Pickup Crash

unsplash-kenneally-flowersWho:

Deborah Parker, 58, in Sturbridge, Massachusetts died just after midnight on Sunday, 5/4/14, on Route 148 / Brookfield Rd. She drove a 2012 Ford Fusion and crossed the center line to hit a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ryan Fabrycki, 22, along with his passenger and brother, Conor, 21. The brothers were able to walk away from the crash and did not have significant injuries.

How:

Per police reports, Parker was southbound on Route 148. She crossed the center line and impacted the northbound Chevy. She was not wearing her seat belt, while the brothers were. She required extrication and was declared dead at a local hospital.

Why:

This is another sad case of driver error leading to a preventable collision, and a lack of seat belt use leading to a preventable death. It also demonstrates how speed and weight discrepancies unnecessarily take lives.

The 2012 Fusion weighs 3384 lbs and comes with a “good” IIHS frontal score. It was impacted by a 2002 Silverado, that weighs 4709 lbs, or 139% of the Fusion’s weight.  As a result, the Fusion automatically faced 39% more force in the collision than it would have colliding with another Fusion. This placed it 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 (~45 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 431KJ 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 faced 176% of the force it would have experienced in the type of crash the vehicle was rated for.

That said, these forces, while high, are significantly lower than those in the majority of fatal crashes I study, and within the range of collision force percentages I review in non-fatal collisions.

However, given the the lack of seat belt use, death was sadly a near- certainty. Otherwise, she almost certainly might have survived this collision.

We may never know why Deborah crossed the center line. We do know that her momentary instance of distracted driving and lack of seat belt use led to the untimely end of her life. I rarely calculate forces less than 200% of tested crash forces that lead to fatalities; I believe this fatality may have occurred here due to a lack of seat belt use.

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