Car accident- old seats- 3 kids dead

LimePink

Senior Community Member
http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071021/NEWS01/71021004

It doesn't say it in that link that the seats were old- but a cop on TV just said it. I'm looking for another link now. --I'm so freaking frustrated that it's not being mentioned online since the cop said it on TV. Obviously HE felt since the seats were old that it was important to mention, but somehow no one else does?:hitselfonhead:


MUNCIE — Five people — three of them children — were killed in an Interstate 69 accident this afternoon that police believe was caused by a blown tire on their 15-passenger van.
The children who died ranged in age from infant to 12 years old, authorities said. In addition to the five who were killed, 11 others were injured, said Sgt. Rod Russell of the Indiana State Police.
Russell said it appeared that at least some of those in the van were Amish, and the van was believed to have been from Allen County.

The crash occurred around 4:30 p.m., when the van — which was southbound on the interstate at about the 50-mile marker — crossed the median into the northbound lanes, Russell said. The van did not strike another vehicle but rolled over, ejecting four people.

Russell said it appeared that the van’s left rear tire was blown.

“We canvassed the area completely looking for other survivors or deceased,” Russell said.

Russell said investigators were not immediately able to determine if seat belts were in use in the van, but child seats were evident, he said.

Seven medical transport helicopters were called to the scene but only six transported patients, Russell said. The seventh helicopter was sent to Ball Memorial Hospital to stand by in case it was needed.

Victims of the accident were taken to Ball Memorial Hospital, Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. Five were taken by ground ambulance to Ball Memorial.

At 7:30 p.m., the northbound lanes of I-69 were still closed. The southbound lanes were closed for about an hour, but reopened by 7 p.m.

The accident occurred nine miles north of the Ind. 332 exit, not far from two recently rebuilt rest stops.

Because of stopped traffic on the interstate, emergency vehicles were driving along the side of the road to get to the scene.
 
ADS

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
How awful. :(

If I'm doing my math right, it sounds like there were 16 passengers in a 15 passenger van - so with 4 ejected, 1 unrestrained passenger & 3 child restraints that failed catastrophically because of their age?

(I've read of an EMS here that has seen car seats ejected, yet the buckle path bottom still buckled into the vehicle - the plastic just literally broke away...)
 

LimePink

Senior Community Member
If I'm doing my math right, it sounds like there were 16 passengers in a 15 passenger van - so with 4 ejected, 1 unrestrained passenger & 3 child restraints that failed catastrophically because of their age?
Since the oldest child was 12, I'm going to assume no seat was used on him/her. That would leave 2 car seats..and then however many other people.
 

southpawboston

New member
no conclusions can be made really, regarding whether seats failed because of their age or because they weren't installed or installed correctly.

but one thing that pops into my head is that the van was probably not in good maintenance. i wonder how bad the tires were. it's important to keep up on those things!
 

katiebug

New member
I live in Indpls & DH is from northern IN which has a large Amish population. This was all over the news here last night & we both suspected that the carseats might not be up to date since they don't ride in motorized vehicles very often - just an assumption.
Terrible tragedy :(
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
I'm surprised that the Amish used carseats at all, honestly. They won't see this as a tragedy- just as God's will.

How sad to lose all of those babies, to something so preventable. :(
 

amy919

New member
I'm surprised that the Amish used carseats at all, honestly. They won't see this as a tragedy- just as God's will.

How sad to lose all of those babies, to something so preventable. :(

Unfortunately, I agree with you.

What a tragic story. So sad...
 

amy919

New member
umm... how do you *know* it was preventable?

You're right. Of course we don't really know that it was preventable. We all know that no matter how well we maintain our cars and how well we protect our children with car seats, there are just some accidents that are so severe that no safety measure is enough. I guess we're just speculating that people either weren't restrained or were restrained improperly. Based on the information, it's probably that this is the case.
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
Without reading the article, I'm going to say that a crash is no accident. Generally, if everyone is doing what they are supposed to do, a crash won't happen. Who caused the crash? What were they doing? Were they distracted? Was the vehicle in proper condition? Was everyone wearing their seatbelts? Were they seated properly - head restraints, lap/shoulder belts? Were there projectiles? Were the carseats in safe condition - not expired, not recalled? Were they used properly?

Again, I didn't even read the full article.
 

southpawboston

New member
16 passengers in a 15 passenger van. At least one of those deaths was preventable.

by "it" i was referring to the tragedy of all five deaths.

i just don't understand how people come to sweeping conclusions based on heresay. no one really knows how or why the deaths occurred. it is safe to say that at least one person was not properly restrained, but for the four other deaths, there is no way of knowing if and how they could have been prevented without additional information. it's also conceivable that the other deaths could not have been prevented by following proper CPS practices. the crash could simply have been too harsh. we just don't know.
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
"but one thing that pops into my head is that the van was probably not in good maintenance. i wonder how bad the tires were. it's important to keep up on those things!"

Something damaged that tire. Could have been something on the road, could have been a poorly cared for tire. The news story (which I did eventually read) says that the tire blew and they lost control. It's pretty evident that if the tire didn't blow, they wouldn't have lost control.

Soo.... why did the tire blow? Most likely, entirely preventable. Something blew out of someones truck, sat on the road, run over, caused tire to blow. Poor tire maintance, caused tire to blow. Faulty tire, caused tire to blow. Every where you look, there's a reason this could have been prevented.
 

Jordynsmama

New member
I don't think it is some huge deal to make assumptions especially if a cop said they looked old and that they had more passengers than seats. They are not going to come read this so who cares? I guess I don't see why ppl care if other ppl make reasonable assumptions sometimes. It isnt doing any harm.
 

ymherrera

New member
This story is eerily similar to the accident my uncle experienced on vacation in Mexico. They had a 10 passenger van and a tire blew out on an uphill dirt road. This happened back in '96 and my 12 yr old, 7 yr old, and 3 yr old twin cousins died at the scene on impact except for the 12 yr old and one of the twins which died at the scene but not instantly. A month later my 9 yr old cousin died of complications at the hospital here in the US. My aunt, uncle and three older cousins all had broken bones and such but they lost half their family in the accident. The twins were not in car seats.

Horrible story but reading that brought chills down my spine and memories back.
 

jaded

New member
A law passed here making it illegal for school districts to use 15 passenger vans to transport kids because of the problems shown to occur with them.
 

wondering1

New member
ymherrera, how very sad.

spb,
One loose passenger can kill 3 other passengers during their flight.

eta: ya know those big shopping carts/buggies/etc at the grocery store that have a little car in the front for your children to ride in? Well, the handling of those carts is horrible...they are very difficult to turn, get over, correct, etc. That would be one way of trying to imagine the difficulties in driving a 15-passenger van compared to other vehicles.
 

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