NOVI, Mich. – A pickup truck driver who was going 70 mph while approaching a construction zone and couldn’t stop in time after a lane change crashed into the back of a car and killed a Farmington Hills woman, police said.
Michigan State Police troopers were called around 9:25 a.m. Saturday (April 2) to the three-vehicle crash on westbound I-96 at Wixom Road in Novi.
Officials said a red Subaru was stopped in the center lane due to a lane closure, and a red Kia was right behind it.
A 65-year-old Macomb man was driving a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck in the left lane at about 70 mph when he saw the lane was closed ahead, police said. He changed to the center lane but couldn’t stop fast enough and rear-ended the Kia, according to authorities.
A 28-year-old Farmington Hills woman in the back seat of the Kia was killed in the collision, troopers said.
“The least you can do is slow down,” MDOT spokesperson Diane Cross said. “You might be a few minutes late, but you know what, maybe somebody gets to go home because of that.”
The impact caused the Kia to rear-end the Subaru, injuring the driver and front seat passenger of the Kia, officials said. They were taken to Providence Hospital in Novi with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Subaru ended up hitting the median wall, officials said.
“There’s a reason we put those barrels out,” Cross said. “We don’t put them out to aggravate drivers. We put them out because we’re trying to protect drivers in controlling where they can go, and protect workers who are nearby in an area.”
Nobody else was injured, authorities said.
Michigan State Police continue to investigate.