2-car crash sends drivers to hospital; 1 in critical condition
A two-car crash in Ypsilanti Township injured two people, one critically, Thursday morning.
The crash occurred on Hewitt Road near Valley Drive at about 9:30 a.m., Ypsilanti Township Fire Captain Brad Johnson said.
It appeared that a car travelling north on Hewitt Road veered over the centerline and was struck by a southbound SUV, Johnson said.
The man driving the car appeared to have suffered critical injuries in the crash, Johnson said. Huron Valley Ambulance paramedics took him to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
The woman driving the SUV suffered non-life threatening injuries and was also taken to the hospital, he said.
Hewitt Road was closed for the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office accident investigation and was expected to remain closed for about another hour, sheriff’s Sgt. Geoff Fox said shortly after 10 a.m.
Further information, including the ages of the injured, was not immediately available.
Comments
Y-TownMom
Fri, Nov 9, 2012 : 1:45 a.m.
Many prayers for the family.
rs
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 4:19 p.m.
It was only a matter of time before something happened there. It has a posted 45 speed limit that most every one does at least 10 over on. There is a big hill at this part of Hewitt so when, so when northbound cars break over that hill doing 45+, there isn't much time to react if something is in your way like cars turning onto Valley or pedestrians crossing Hewitt.
YpsiLivin
Fri, Nov 9, 2012 : 12:04 a.m.
Cinnabar, The speed limit does not change at the curve. The yellow sign you see that has the 35 mph on it is the "curve rating." It is the suggested speed at which you take a curve, but as a driver, you are not obligated to follow the "curve rating" recommendation.
cinnabar7071
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 10:42 p.m.
Ypsilivin since you live in this area you should know the speed limit is 35 mph where this happened, at least heading south there is a reduce speed to 35 MPH sign just before the hill.
rs
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 9:41 p.m.
Billy, I'm not trying to call you out, but there actually is a rather large difference between 35 mph and 50 mph. If both cars are coming towards each other at 35, thats a combined speed of 70 mph compared to the combined speed of 100 mph if each car is going 50. This 30 mph difference equates to an additional 44 ft/sec your car is going towards the other oncoming car. This extra 44ft per second can make a huge difference in avoiding an accident. Can you imagine if you had an additional 44' to get around a sudden obstacle?
YpsiLivin
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 9:18 p.m.
I live on Hewitt slightly south of where this accident occurred. Another accident of similar severity happened in virtually the same spot about six weeks ago. I have lived in the area for a long time, both when the speed limit on Hewitt was 35 and since it has been raised to 45. I can say from having witnessed literally dozens of accidents along this stretch that the increased speed limit has increased the severity of the accidents that do occur. We now have rollover accidents, where prior to the speed limit increase, we didn't see those. People are taken to the hospital more now than they were in the past, when the speed limit was 35. Cars end up on peoples' lawns a lot more often than they used to, we see a lot more property damage, and we see a lot more multi-car accidents, as opposed to collisions involving just two cars. One accident last December left a pickup truck literally stacked on top of the car that rear-ended it. Speed certainly worsens the crashes that do occur. I saw the cars involved in this particular accident and they were both pretty badly mangled. Hewitt between Packard and Ellsworth is primarily residential. The blind curve and the dips in the road near Congress make Hewitt dangerous, plain and simple. The speed limit on Hewitt should be reduced to 35, and the road should be reduced to one lane in each direction with a left turn lane.
Lisa G
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 9:13 p.m.
Has everyone forgotten that you are talking about human beings here. Speculate all you want to about the cause of the accident if that makes you happy, but we have 2 families here grieving for loved ones and thats what matters right now. I personally know one of the victims and know the family is going thru unbearable grief seeing this kind of crap won't help. I'm always amazed at the lack of empathy and compassion people have for one another. Very Sad!!
Billy
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 8:40 p.m.
Your difference in reaction time between 35-50mph is not notable nor could you blame that for an accident. If it IS notable for you......then I really don't think you should be behind the wheel of a motor vehicle... Time and time again it has been proven with statistical and empirical evidence that higher speeds don't increase the chance of an accident...but in fact the opposite occurs. The chance of injury and death certainly rise with speed....but not the propensity to have an accident. Also...make sure you're not presenting an exception to the rule when trying to argue against this...
cinnabar7071
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 7:36 p.m.
Yup that guy must have been going to fast when that other car crossed the center line and hit him. Just like the car STOPPED on 94 the other day, if only he were going slower then stopped then maybe he could have avoided being rear ended by that truck.
justcurious
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 7:01 p.m.
rs, you're right. That applies to deer as well.
rs
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 5:24 p.m.
I find it odd that you think its just as easy to avoid an obstacle in your lane at 100 mph as it is when you're going 5 mph. I think its pretty obvious that you have less time to react to things when traffic is going faster, whether its cars drifting into your lane or anything else.
cinnabar7071
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 5:15 p.m.
I find it odd that you would bring up speed when the story clearly states this was caused by a driver crossing the center line. Driving 5mph or 100mph doesn't matter when you're in the wrong lane, something bad is going to happen and did. Hope they both have a speedy recovery.
Barb
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 4:55 p.m.
It sued to be 35 thru there when I lived in that area - and people still went too fast. Hope everyone is ok.
Billy
Thu, Nov 8, 2012 : 4:07 p.m.
Wow....I knew it had to be a pretty serious accident when the Nixle report hit and said they'd CLOSED Hewitt. That's a 4 or 5 lane there....so to close it all down means it had to be pretty bad.