Who:

Karen Lee Greenstein, 58, from Ashland, worked at Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon as an Emergency Dispatcher, and was driving home from work, and was killed on 3/27/14 at around 3:15 5 miles south of Medford on I-5 southbound. She drove a 2006 Honda Civic and was killed by Richard Webster Scott, 32, who drove a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan. He was seriously injured.

How:

Per reports, Greenstein was driving southbound while Scott crossed the center line and started driving north in the southbound lane. Greenstein, who was wearing her seat belt, was ejected from her vehicle; she died at the scene, while Scott, who was seriously injured, was transported to the hospital. Per police reports, he was drunk.

Why:

This is another sad case of alcohol use leading to a fatality, as are 1 of every 3 traffic deaths in this country, year after year. Such crashes are more likely at night, as was this one, since drunk drivers drive more at night than they do during the day.

Investigating the physics of the crash, it is not surprising that Greenstein died while Scott lived, as her vehicle was massively outweighed by his. The 2006 Civic weighs 2751 lbs and comes with a “good” IIHS frontal score. It was impacted by a 2003 Grand Caravan that weighs 4224 lbs, or 154% of the Civic’s weight.  As a result, the Civic driver automatically faced 54% more force in the collision than she would have if she’d collided with another Civic, placing her at a severe disadvantage in the collision. Scott, meanwhile, experienced 35% lower forces due to his weight advantage.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (~65 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 809KJ of energy into the Civic. The Civic frontal impact test simulates 199KJ of energy (a Civic impacting another at 40 mph). In other words, the Civic driver faced 407% of the force she’d have experienced in the type of crash her car was rated for. Given the speed of the collision, her odds of survival were, sadly, virtually non-existent, especially given her ejection.

Interestingly, the Dodge’s frontal test simulated 306KJ of energy (a Dodge impacting another at 40 mph), indicating that its driver would have faced 172% of the forces his minivan was rated to safely withstand, given that the Civic imparted 527KJ of energy into the Dodge. While these were still tremendous forces, his odds of survival were still much better than those of the Civic’s driver.

This was ultimately a wholly preventable tragedy.

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