Crash in restaurant parking lot kills 30-year-old Shelby Township man
A 30-year-old Shelby Township man died after his vehicle landed on others in the parking lot of the Palm Palace.
Colleen Ramsdell | For AnnArbor.com
Police were still not releasing the name Saturday morning of the person who died in a fatal crash Friday night but did confirm the driver was a 30-year-old Shelby Township man.
Pittsfield Township police issued a release about the accident Saturday that provided a few more details about the accident in which the man's car rolled onto vehicles parked at the Palm Palace restaurant at 2370 Carpenter Road.
Police and fire were first called to a traffic crash in the area of Washtenaw Avenue near Carpenter Road at 7:45 p.m.
Police said the man's car was traveling east on Washtenaw just east of U.S. 23 when it drifted off the roadway to the south. The driver lost control, and the car traveled southeast across the northbound U.S. 23 exit ramp to Washtenaw Avenue.
The vehicle then went over an embankment and eventually came to rest in the parking lot of the restaurant after striking several unoccupied parked cars, police said.
The driver and lone occupant was pronounced dead at the scene by responding medical personnel.
The reason the man lost control of the vehicle is still under investigation by the Pittsfield Township Accident Investigation Team.
Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call Pittsfield Township Police at 734-822- 4911.
The crash is the latest in a string of fatal crashes across Washtenaw County and it was the second in a week in Pittsfield Township.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Anonymous
Sat, Aug 3, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.
I am pretty sure it only hit two parked cars, not several.
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, Aug 3, 2013 : 1:41 p.m.
I missed the story last night. But reading it this morning it seems Ann Arbor.com fanned the flames of the "dangerous intersection' hysteria by mentioning it in the body of the article. It seems it was a single car accident and the poor guy left the road well before the actual intersection. So the "dangerous" intersection of Carpenter and Washtenaw had nothing to do with it. In any case prayers to family and friends of the deceased.
Napalm.Morning
Sat, Aug 3, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
It will be interesting to learn the results of the investigation. After seeing the aftermath it is still hard to comprehend the distance the car traveled from EB Washtenaw (!) accross the ramp, up the berm, through the scrubby pine trees, and into the parking lot if the vehicle was travelling anywhere close to posted speeds coupled with the general vehicular congestion in the area.
HermanP
Sat, Aug 3, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.
For those of you who posted on the original article that the intersection is to blame for this and other accidents at this location, based on this update, it sounds like intersection design did not an issue.
Jack Gladney
Sat, Aug 3, 2013 : 12:32 p.m.
I just read the 50+ comment from last night's original story. I'll post my response here: Oh, thaaat's what happened. Now it makes sense. Never mind.