Four Killed in Three Car Accident Near Mt. Pleasant

A horrifying scene outside of Mount Pleasant Sunday afternoon as two cars hit head on, a third car entering the fray and four people are dead, including a three year old boy.

“This was our sixth fatality in the last 30 days in our county,” says Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main.

A stretch of M-20 east of Mt. Pleasant was closed for four hours Sunday evening as police put together one of the deadliest accidents they have seen. They say the original call was for a red Jeep that drifted into oncoming traffic.

“His passenger indicated that he had some sort of medical episode, wasn’t sure if he passed out or not,” says Main, “Whatever happened, he veered into oncoming lane and hit the Chevy Avalanche, that what we believe had the mother father and the son in the vehicle.”

Alcohol and speed are not believed to be factors.

“I don’t think it was anything with intent or anything like that,” says Main, “Just had the medical episode.”

The key to this crash was all about seatbelt use. In the Chevy Avalanche all three people died. The driver was pinned inside and did not have her seatbelt on. The passenger was ejected from the truck and did not have a seatbelt on. The three-year-old in the backseat was in a car seat but it was not properly fastened and he too was ejected.

“Obviously, one wouldn’t have been ejected, the other one had some pretty massive damage to the vehicle but certainly could’ve made a difference,” says Main, “Certainly with the baby it could’ve made a difference too.”

The passenger of the Jeep survived and is recovering from her injuries. The third car had two injured people but they were released. The sheriff says this was a complete accident but this time of year these things can happen as more cars are on the road for longer distances.

“Especially in the summer months, when the windows are down the radio is up people are thinking of other fun things,” says Main, “Doing stuff not necessarily paying attention to the road as much as they should be.”