Cayden Thomas Fitch, 18, and Michael Joseph Moylett, 69 were killed around 7:04 PM on 4/5/14 close to Dallas, OR on Highway 22. Fitch was in a 1995 Ford Ranger while Moylett was in a 2011 Toyota RAV4. Bryan, 43, Fitch’s father, an OSP trooper, was off duty and seriously injured in the passenger seat, while Moylett’s passenger, his wife, Estella, 61, was also seriously injured.

How:
Per police reports, Fitch was eastbound on the highway and attempting to pass a car. It was a two lane highway. He did not complete the maneuver and crashed head-on with a westbound RAV4. All occupants wore seat belts and airbags deployed. The Ranger stopped after the crash in the middle of the highway, while the RAV4 came to rest on the highway’s north side. Fitch and Moylett died at the scene.

Why:
It is unclear why Fitch crashed into Moylett, but given the fact that he was a younger driver and it was close to nighttime, it is likely that his lack of experience combined with the low visibility may have played a role. It is unclear at this time if Fitch or Moylett were speeding. Whatever the reason, the deaths of the drivers while the front passengers survived with serious injuries suggest the crash was a moderate or small frontal offset crash.

The 1995 Ranger weighs 3153 lbs and comes with a “good” IIHS frontal score. It was impacted by a 2011 RAV4 that weighs approximately 3500 lbs. As a result, the Ranger occupants faced 11% more force than they’d have faced colliding with another Ranger, placing them at a slight disadvantage. The RAV4 occupants experienced 10% less force.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (at least 65 mph, the state speed limit), the collision likely imparted at least 670KJ of energy into the Ranger. The Ranger frontal impact test simulates 229KJ of energy (a Ranger impacting another at 40 mph). In other words, the Ranger occupants faced 293% of the force they’d have experienced in the type of crash their truck was rated for. Given the speed of the collision, their odds of survival were low, but possible, reflected in the survival of the passenger, Fitch’s father.

The RAV4 frontal test simulated 254KJ of energy (a RAV4 impacting another at 40 mph), indicating that its occupants would have faced 238% of the forces his SUV was rated to safely withstand, given that the Ranger imparted 604KJ of energy into the RAV4. While these were still tremendous forces, their odds of survival should still have been significantly better, and this was reflected in the passenger’s survival.

However, while the RAV4 does have a “good” overall score, its subscore for head/neck protection is only “acceptable”, as the test dummy head was observed to impact the steering wheel through the airbag in the 40 mph tested crash. It is likely that such an impact at the much higher speeds of the crash is what led to the death of Moylett. Similarly, Moylett was significantly older than Fitch, and advancing age is a known risk in fatal collisions. All of these factors combined to make this a collision where fatalities were observed in the higher weight vehicle, an unusual occurrence in most of the cases I study.

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