South Bend, IN — April 22, 2024, Kerys Davies, Stuart Davies, and others were injured due to a box truck accident late Monday on the Indiana Toll Road.
Authorities said they were called to the westbound lanes of the toll road (I-90) north of town near the Notre Dame exit.
According to current statements, 25-year-old Kerys Davies, her father Stuart Davies, and others in the family were in a Chrysler Pacifica van going along the toll road. The vehicle slowed to take an exit when a box truck reportedly crashed into the back of the van.
As a result, Kerys Davies was apparently thrown from the van “despite having a seatbelt on.” Kerys Davies was left with serious injuries. Stuart Davies reportedly had no serious injuries. The conditions of others involved are unclear. It’s also unclear at this time if authorities are considering any charges or citations.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
There are two main things that come to mind here—something no doubt a lot of people are wondering, and something that people may not be considering. For one, a rear-end collision like this is almost always the result of a driver going too fast, following too closely, or not looking at the road. Was that true here? And if so, was this just some reckless driver, or was this the result of a company encouraging reckless driving through a lack of oversight or by incentivizing speed over safety? It might surprise people to see how often truck wreck cases I’ve litigated ended up holding a lot more than just a truck driver accountable for the crash. Sometimes, it’s their working environment that inevitably leads to mistakes, and that shouldn’t be ruled out without a thorough investigation.
Secondly, are investigators looking at why there was an ejection here? The news said the woman had her seatbelt on but was still thrown from the vehicle. That’s a huge red flag that there may have been a defect. Now, I’ve seen some images of the van in the news, and it was pretty banged up. It’s possible the collision was serious enough that an ejection was a natural result of the damage the van sustained. But not that long ago, I had a case where someone was thrown from their seat while wearing their seatbelt because the belt’s pretensioner failed due to a defect. Police simply had no idea, and it took independent accident reconstructions to bring the issue to light.
Frankly, defects are not all that common, but they do happen. So if there’s even a glimpse of a sign there might be one involved in a crash, it would be wildly irresponsible not to look into it more closely. After all, the law is nuanced enough that all parties can face appropriate consequences for contributing to someone’s injuries. If authorities let something slip through the cracks because they put all of their focus in one place, it would be a disservice to those in need of help.
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