Family survived I-94 pileup, rollover crash because of correct seat belt and car seat use скачать в хорошем качестве

Family survived I-94 pileup, rollover crash because of correct seat belt and car seat use

An eight-vehicle crash on I-94 in Kalamazoo County in October could have easily turned deadly had seat belts and child restraints not been used correctly, according to Michigan State Police (MSP). That's why, this week, MSP recognized the mom and her two children who survived the crash with a "Saved by the Belt" award at their 5th District Headquarters in Paw Paw. For the first time, nearly five months after the crash, the family is also sharing their own personal testimony of surviving the traumatic crash. The crash happened on the morning of Oct. 6, 2025 near the Sprinkle Road exit on I-94 when a military vehicle lost control while changing lanes and hit a semi-truck, triggering a chain reaction involving eight vehicles. The pileup included a 2015 Chrysler Town and Country carrying a mother and her two children. The SUV was forced through a guardrail and rolled several times down a deep embankment, according to troopers. “I didn’t even know it was there until another officer told me," said MSP Trooper Jacob Onderlinde, who had responded to what he described as a very chaotic scene. Inside the SUV were 40-year-old Jessica and her two children, 10-year-old Adalynne and 4-year-old Charlie, on their way to school. “There was a lot of traffic,” Jessica said. “You can’t control what’s happening behind you. The only thing I could do was make sure my kids were in their seats properly and leave the rest up to God.” When the van finally stopped after rolling several times, Jessica said all she could think about was her children. “My first thought was, 'my kids, and are they okay?'” Charlie was conscious and Jessica said she was able to remove her four-year-old from her car seat. Adalynne was trapped inside the crushed vehicle, unconscious. “She had some pretty significant injuries,” Jessica said. “We needed rescue personnel to get her out.” Adalynne suffered critical injuries and spent four days in the ICU, but has since returned to school and made what troopers call a remarkable recovery. “I think Adalynne is probably the toughest 10-year-old girl I’ve ever met,” Onderlinde said. "I visited her, I think, a week after the crash, and she was already back up on her feet and wanting to get back into gym class and go play with her friends. It's been really amazing to see her recovery and how she's been handling this. And it was really amazing that Charlie and Jessica weren't even scathed at all." Troopers told News Channel 3 that the outcome could have been drastically different had seat belts and child safety seats not been used correctly. “Had she not done what she did religiously, through no fault of their own, I’m positive this would have resulted in the death of someone in that vehicle,” said MSP First Lieutenant Scott “Rusty” Ernstes. Investigators pulled black-box data from the SUV, reviewed nearby surveillance video, and conducted a full crash reconstruction, according to Ernstes. It was evident that the 10-year-old was in her seat belt and the four-year-old was properly strapped into her age-appropriate, front-facing car seat. “It’s not just about keeping you from being ejected,” Ernstes said. “It keeps you in the spot where airbags and safety systems are designed to work.” The “Saved by the Belt” and Child Safety Seat awards given by MSP and the Office of Highway Safety Planning are meant for situations exactly like this one, according to Ernstes. https://wwmt.com/news/local/kalamazoo... _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: WWMT on Facebook:   / wwmtnews   WWMT on Twitter:   / wwmtnews   Subscribe to WWMT on YouTube:    / @wwmtnews   WWMT Daily News Digest:    • WWMT-TV Daily Digest   For more information, visit https://www.wwmt.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: desk@wwmt.com Call the Newsroom: 800.875.3333 WWMT is a MI based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #WWMT #NEWSCHANNEL3 #Kalamazoo #Michigan