Who:

Kathlean Kennedy, 25, from Massillion, Ohio was killed at around 2:27 PM on Friday, 6/4/14, close to Haverton, Ohio. She was westbound on U.S. Route 30 driving a 2010 Ford Fusion east of Lindesmith Rd. She crossed the center line and impacted a 1998 Allegro recreational vehicle that Robert Lausted, 44, from Bronson, Texas. Kennedy died at the scene, while her 1-year-old daughter, Elli, was in stable condition after hospitalization. Lausted was uninjured.

How:

Per police reports, Kennedy was westbound and approaching a curve when she crossed the center line into the path of the RV. Lausted told troopers that she appeared to have been looking downward before the crash, and that she “looked up and jerked the wheel, but it was too late.” After the impact, the Fusion spun and ended up on the side of the road. Kennedy was belted and died due to severe head trauma. Her daughter was in the center rear seat securely restrained in an infant car seat, and per emergency responders who’d removed her seat, it was still secured well after the collision. The child was airlifted to a local children’s hospital and was in stable condition. Alcohol is not suspected as a factor in the collision.

Why:

This appears to be another sad case of distracted driving. For whatever reason, Kennedy was staring downward, and did not look up until it was too late to avoid the collision. I have to wonder if she was not looking at a phone, as phone-related driving collisions have been increasing in recent years, and are more common among younger drivers.

Investigating the physics of the crash, it is not surprising that Kennedy died while Lausted lived, as her vehicle was massively outweighed by his. The 2010 Fusion weighs 3384 lbs and comes with a “good” IIHS frontal score. It was impacted by a 1998 Allegro Class A RV that weighs around 23,000 pounds, or 680% of the Fusion’s weight.  As a result, the Fusion driver automatically faced 580% 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.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (~55 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 3.15MJ 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 1286% 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.

The part of this story that speaks to me most, however, is the survival of her daughter. Despite the unimaginably high forces imparted upon the vehicle and the severe degree of structural intrusion visible in the photos above, the child lived. Why?

I’ve written before extensively about the importance of choosing the right car seat and properly restraining children, and this is a textbook example of the advantage properly-restrained children have, even in severe collisions. Elli was almost certainly restrained in a rear-facing infant seat such as the Keyfit or MESA. Her mother also followed best practices of installing her in the center seat, as suggested by research. Properly restrained children can survive crashes that would otherwise be unsurvivable.

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