Who:

Naycha Night, 11, a Goodwyn Middle School student, and Heaven Brooks, 2, were killed in a 2/23/14 crash that occurred at around 12:17 PM in Montgomery Cty., AL, close to the Waugh exit southbound on I-85. Night was in Lametric Willetta Maddox’s 2005 Toyota Corolla and her daughter, while Brooks was in her mother, Joy Brooks’ 2003 Jeep Liberty. Charletta Griffen, 12, was also in the Corolla, and was injured along with Brooks in the Liberty.

How:

It appears that the Liberty lost control while southbound and was impacted in the passenger’s side by the Corolla at highway speeds. Night died at the scene while Brooks died two days later. Per authorities, she was not in a child-restraint system when the crash occurred.

Why:
I’m not sure what led to the collision, but there was clearly a loss of control on the part of the Liberty for it to end up sideways on the highway to be impacted by the Corolla. It is likely that Night was a front-seated passenger, while Brooks was almost certainly seated in the back and likely simply belted, since she was not in a child-restraint system (i.e., a rear-facing car seat) as she should have been. Being under 13, Night should also have been in the back, as recommended by the NHTSA here.

Given these dynamics, the 2005 Corolla weighs ~2584 lbs and is classified as a small car. It has a “good” frontal score, which is the only score relevant for the Corolla, since it experienced a frontal impact. The 2003 Liberty weighs ~4100 lbs as a midsized SUV. It doesn’t have a tested side score, but would almost certainly have received a “poor” score had it been rated, since it did not come with side airbags standard and since the next generation, which did, only received a “marginal” rating. It also didn’t come with ESC, which might have helped prevent the loss of control that put the Liberty in T-bone position for the Corolla.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (~70 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 574KJ of energy into the Corolla / Liberty. The standard side impact test simulates 143KJ of energy (a 3300-lb sled impacting a vehicle at 31 mph). In other words, the Liberty occupants faced 401% of the force they’d have experienced in the types of crashes cars are side rated for. The lack of side airbags wasn’t what killed Brooks, however, but the fact that she was not properly restrained in a high-speed collision. Properly restrained in a center, rear-facing car seat, the degree of intrusion presented by the Corolla into the Liberty might have been survivable. The roof buckled, and there was significant intrusion, but the A and B-frames were intact.

Meanwhile, the Corolla was designed to perform well in a frontal impact test simulating 187KJ of energy (i.e., a Corolla impacting its twin at 40 mph). The Corolla’s occupants faced 307% of these forces. The frontal airbags clearly deployed, and there was a significant amount of damage to the front engine compartment, as designed. However, the cabin looked highly intact, right down to the intact A-frame. Again, this crash might have been survivable, and it was for 2 of the 3 occupants in the vehicle–the adult, who had more mass and a more developed skeletal and muscular structure, and the child restrained in the back seat. The child in the front seat, sadly, did not fare as well.

The circumstances leading to the collision are unclear, but examining the forces involved and the visual conditions of the vehicles after the collisions suggests that this could have been a non-fatal multi-vehicle collision had both children been properly restrained in the back.

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