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1. Comment by SarahW on 12/17 @ 10:15 am #

   It seems likely that the unnoticed victim had slid up under the dash, which closed over her when the car crumpled, and was concealed by the airbag.

2. Comment by Darleen on 12/17 @ 10:31 am #

   Granted, Sarah .. but someone dropped the ball big time on this. The accident scene should never have been released without a thorough inspection of the vehicle.

   I’ve seen accidents of minivans that look like something out of an auto junkyard crusher…and on-scene rescuers discovering small children under seats.

3. Comment by SarahW on 12/17 @ 12:24 pm #

   Darleen, I can’t pretend to know the peculiar circumstances which led to the oversight of the EMT’s.
   If the woman, or most of her, was upright in her seat and merely covered by the airbag, or worse, survived for a time and lost a chance to survive the accident because of the oversight, that’s very terrible and there will be some costs, tangible and intangible, to the parties responsible for the mistake.

   I’ve had the misfortune to see a lot of crush-up photographs myself, and the anecdotes of EMT’s to , erm, educate my idea of what can become of the human body in an accident, Which, not to conjure up any unpleasant images to spoil peoples days, especially ones who were of slight build and unbelted, can adopt postures and fit into spaces which would not ordinarily be believed.

   These same EMT’s recount tales of finding small passengers, especially ones not known to be missing…not being found, until a relative or witness brings up the possibility of another person being in the car, and a search repeated. And that this kind of error isn’t unheard of, for small, unbelted individuals.

   I can’t vouch for any diligence in this case, but the EMT’s may well have made a check beneath the airbag, and having no other reason to believe there was another passenger in the car, let alone one who might have survived, were too busy with life or death issues to cut the car apart.

   In this case, chances are good there no harm to anyone but loss of dignity in death. If it turns out otherwise, they have some major explaining to do.

   It may well be that the airbag was lifted up and no person was on the seat.

4. Comment by Swede on 12/17 @ 5:01 pm #

   You know, Darleen, not everybody is blessed with your attention to detail. Maybe it was close to quitting time? Maybe they thought the other guy looked? A lot of people are really distracted by this Hollywood writers strike. A lot of people are “Big Picture” people, they’ve got their eye on long term trends and such and can’t be mired down in “details”.

5. Comment by Matt, esq on 12/17 @ 7:29 pm #

   I do exclusively defense work but I’d take that case, based on those facts.

6. Comment by SarahW on 12/17 @ 9:09 pm #

   I don’t presume the woman wasn’t easily found if looked for, but if you want to make sure those slacker EMT’s find you, and you are slight and petite, buckle up. Merry Christmas!

7. Comment by Darleen on 12/18 @ 12:28 am #

   Sarah

   EMT’s are the last people at the scene responsible for locating vics…they are just there to stabilize and transport.

   This was either a cop or firefighter snafu, IMHO. If an autopsy reveals she wasn’t immediately killed in the crash…there’s gonna be a world of hurt on the local responding agencies.

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