Monday, June 29, 2015

2 killed, 2 injured in massive crash onto a tree. Drugs and speed likely factors in fatal I-96 crash near Lansing, MI


DELHI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Lansing State Journal)

 Drugs are believed to be a factor in a crash that killed two Detroit area residents on the eastbound Interstate 96 ramp onto northbound U.S. 127 this morning, Ingham County sheriff's deputies said.

The car's driver, a 23-year-old man, and a 19-year-old female passenger, were killed when their car veered off the ramp head-on into a tree around 6 a.m., Ingham County Sheriff's Sgt. Robert Ott said.

Two additional female passengers, ages 18 and 19, are in critical condition but improving at a local hospital, Ott said. He said the driver was wearing a seat belt, and that the deceased woman was not wearing her belt.


The driver died on scene, and the passenger died at a local hospital, Ingham County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim O'Neill said. The sheriff's office isn't releasing the victims' names today because family members are still being notified, deputies said.


It appears the driver of a leased Lincoln MKX was speeding on the 25 mph exit ramp and veered off to the left head-on into the tree, O'Neill said. The exit ramp was closed for about three hours.

"I just don't think they slowed down in time," O'Neill said at the scene. "He came into the curve here and just started to slide and that was it."

The accident occurred at 6:05 a.m. when the vehicle veered off the exit ramp and collided head-on with the tree, deputy said. Deputies believe the driver was speeding while exiting I 96.

The eastbound I-96 exit ramp at northbound U.S. 127 has reopened.


The male driver and a female right back-seat passenger were killed in the crash, Ingham County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim O'Neill Two other female victims are in critical condition at a local hospital, O'Neill said. He said the occupants were driving a leased Lincoln MKX and were not local residents. He said deputies are still in the process of identifying the victims and notifying their families.

Everyone in the car was in their early 20s. It appears the driver was speeding on the 25 mph exit ramp off I-96 and veered off to the left head-on into the tree, O'Neill said.

One of the surviving passenges called 911 from the scene, O'Neill said. The driver died on scene and the passenger died at a local hospital, he said. The two female passengers were extracted from the car.

Crews worked into the morning to remove the male driver killed in the crash and wreckage of the car from the wooded area. Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash, O'Neill said. "I just don't think they slowed down in time," O'Neill said at the scene. "He came into the curve here and just started to slide and that was it."