MARENGO TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Three people lost their lives in a head-on crash on I-94.
Early on Monday morning, two men and a 4-year-old girl were killed in Marengo Township, about twenty miles east from Battle Creek.
Right now, information is limited while Michigan State Police investigate, but FOX 17 did receive dispatch audio from the scene, which revealed at least one car was on fire.
"The vehicle's fully involved. At this time we have one patient with serious injuries. We did put air care on standby," the dispatcher said in the audio. The dispatcher went on to say "We got the vehicle fire knocked down. We're gonna go command to fire dispatch. Were you clear on we're needing an additional ambulance?"
Investigators did say a 42-year-old man from Massachusetts was driving the wrong way when his Ford pick-up hit a minivan carrying six people.
Michigan State Police say the deadly crash happened around 12:30 a.m. on westbound I-94, east of 22 ½ Mile Road in Marengo Township.
Troopers say the suspected at-fault driver was going east in the westbound lanes when the collision happened. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two people in the minivan died on the scene, a 46-year-old man and a 4-year-old girl.
The minivan's four other passengers— an adult and three children—were taken to the hospital with non-critical injuries.
Officials say the two adults were wear seatbelts at the time but the children were not.
Michigan State Police is reminding people that the law requires children younger than 4 to ride in a car seat in the rear. If all available rear seats are occupied by children under 4, then a child under 4 may ride in a car seat in the front seat. A child in a rear-facing car seat may only ride in the front seat if the airbag is turned off.
Unfortunately, FOX 17 has covered wrong-way crashes before. Recently, a local pastor was killed on US-131 by a wrong-way driver.
In March 2021, a 21-year-old art student at Kendall College, Willow Yon, was fatally hit ina wrong-way crash, also on US-131. The other driver was drunk at the time and collided with Willow at 87 miles per hour.
Willow's parents say their family has been broken by the loss and are reminding people this can happen to anyone.
"She was just coming home from friends, because she wanted to do homework the next day, you know," said Denise Yon. "If you cause a wrong-way crash, you're going to prison, not jail, prison. It ruins so many lives, so many lives."
According to a 2021 report from AAA, wrong-way crashes have been on an upward trend since 2015, with 500 crashes reported annually between then and 2018.
That's a 34% increase from the previous year, and research suggests drunk drivers account for 60%.
The Michigan Department of Transportation says they're taking steps to prevent wrong-way crashes by installing more signs, as well as light sensors that alert drivers and call police when someone's driving the wrong direction. The sensors have already been installed on US-131 and Hall Street, as well as on US-131 and Wealthy. Similar sensors have also been installed in downtown Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.
However, if you do find yourself in a situation where a wrong-way crash is possible, AAA has a few tips. The first— get out of the way.
- When driving at night, try to stay in the center lane so you can move quickly to the right or left
- Don't slam on your brakes. It doesn't always protect you from the oncoming car, and it could actually put drivers behind you at risk
- Honk your horn and flash your lights at the other driver
- Pull over and call 911, when you're safe and out of the way.
- Give police as much information as possible on the wrong-way vehicle, so police can keep the roads safe.
