17-year-old dies; 3 others injured in I-94 rollover crash near Chelsea
- Updated story: Police identify victim in I-94 rollover accident
A 17-year-old passenger died following a rollover crash Tuesday night on Interstate 94 near Chelsea after the driver - who suffered critical injuries - steered the car onto the shoulder of the freeway while trying to pass other vehicles, police said.
The 17-year-old boy from Jackson and the driver, a 23-year-old woman from Ypsilanti, were thrown from the vehicle, Michigan State Police said in a press release.
A 28-year-old Ypsilanti man and an infant from Ypsilanti who were in the vehicle also were injured in the crash. Their conditions were not known this morning. The 17-year-old and the adults were not wearing seat belts. The baby was restrained in a car seat.
Witnesses told police the vehicle, a Saturn, was traveling east at a high rate of speed and went onto the left shoulder of the freeway near Dancer Road as the driver tried to pass other vehicles. The car went into the median, then rolled over several times before coming to rest on its roof in the eastbound lanes of the freeway, police said in the release.
A Survival Flight helicopter took the driver to the University of Michigan Hospital, where she was in critical condition Wednesday morning. Huron Valley Ambulance took the other passengers to U-M Hospital.
The crash, which occurred at about 8:50 p.m., and the investigation following it shut the freeway down for hours. It was finally reopened about 3 a.m., said Chelsea Fire Captain Augustine Syrovy.
Alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the crash, police said. They are continuing to investigate.
Firefighters from Chelsea and Scio Township as well as Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies assisted state police and Huron Valley Ambulance paramedics at the crash scene.
View I-94 and Dancer Road crash in a larger map
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