The scene of the crash was described as “disturbing” and “kind of cool.”
The result of slippery road conditions, several Riverview High School students were injured in a rollover accident on Fulton Road last Sunday that was described by witnesses as “horrifying,” but nonetheless “fascinating” to watch.
“I’ve seen a few cars wrecked on the side of the road, but I think this is the first car accident where I’ve seen it happen in front of my own eyes,” said Derek Newton, who was driving roughly fifty feet behind the affected vehicles when the accident occurred. “Of course I feel for those kids and their families, but when the Prius got thrown into the air, I knew I was in for a show.”
The accident reportedly occurred when Riverview High School senior Bryan Howell braked while coming out of a sharp turn. Due to the sleekness of the road, he lost control of the vehicle, which flipped over and went airborne for several rotations, landing on top of fellow student Janet Bingham’s Ford Fiesta, which then in turn spun out into a ditch, careening across three lanes in the process.
“It was horrible to watch,” said Susanne Kleinen, who saw the accident occur from atop a hill at nearby Swallow Hill golf course. “With the first car flipping over the top of the second car, and then a third car getting into the mix when that second one was spinning all over the place, it was like something out of one of those ‘Fast and Furious’ movies.”
Several police officers arrived at the scene after one “shocked, yet captivated” onlooker had reported the accident. Ann Arbor Police Officer Jeff Middeldorf, the first to arrive, said he was both horrified and intrigued.
“When you see all this wreckage lying around, it’s something that really sticks with you,” said Middeldorf. “You just keep trying to conceptualize how a hubcap got all the way over there, or how the third car caught on fire, or what was going on with the crumpled bycicle about twenty feet away from most of the rest of the wreckage. It’s quite remarkable.”
While all victims survived the accident, some suffered serious injuries. Said Dr. Stephen Jadd, the surgeon on call, “There was some severe bleeding, cuts, bruises, a few broken limbs, but thankfully, nobody’s going to need an amputation or anything like that.”
Continued Jadd, “The only long-term trauma to any of these kids would be the result of having their minds blown by that 900-degree aerial rotation.”
