Special Crash Investigations Remote Vehicle Fire Child Restraint System Investigation Vehicle: 2000 Buick LeSabre Location: Indiana Crash Date: June 2012

This report documents the remote investigation of a crash-related fire in a 2000 Buick LeSabre in which a 6- month-old male was seated in a rear-facing child restraint system(CRS)in the second-row left seating position. This crash occurred on a straight, two-lane highway. The Buick was a 4-door sedan equipped with frontal air bags. A 23-year-old female driver (unknown if belted) and a 6-month-old male second-row left passenger, who was seated in rear-facing CRS of unknown make and model, occupied the vehicle. The Buick was in the southbound lane. A 2006 Dodge Stratus was in the northbound lane and the 2005 Chevrolet Malibu was behind the Dodge. The Buick crossed the centerline into the northbound lane and its front plane struck the front plane of the Dodge (Event 1). The impact caused both vehicles to rotate counterclockwise and the front plane of the Chevrolet struck the left plane of the Dodge (Event 2). The Buick came to final rest in the southbound lane heading northwest. The Dodge came to final rest in a field on the east side of the road heading west. The Chevrolet came to final rest heading northeast in the field and was located immediately south of the Dodge. Smoke began to emerge from the instrument panel and cowl area of the Buick immediately following the crash and the driver was trapped in the vehicle. A police officer removed the second-row left occupant of the Buick from his CRS and vehicle through the backlight. The vehicle then caught fire (Event 3). The fire totally consumed the interior of the vehicle and the CRS before the fire could be extinguished by the fire department. The driver of the Buick sustained fatal injuries. The second-row left passenger sustained police reported “B” (non-incapacitating) injuries and was transported by ambulance to a hospital, then transported by helicopter to a children’s hospital. The 28-year-old female driver of the Dodge was transported by helicopter to a hospital where she died of her injuries. The 18-year-old male driver of the Chevrolet sustained police-reported “C” (possible) injuries and was not transported for medical treatment. All the vehicles were towed from the crash scene due to damage.

• Record URL:
  • https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812693
• Corporate Authors:

  Indiana University Transportation Research Center

  ,    

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Center for Statistics and Analysis

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 2019-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: 14p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Child restraint systems; Crash investigation; Crash investigation sites; Fatalities; Highway safety; Injuries; On the scene crash investigation; Vehicle fires
• Identifier Terms: Buick LeSabre
• Geographic Terms: Indiana
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01706246
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: IN17005
• Contract Numbers: DTNH22-12-C-00270
• Files: HSL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: May 28 2019 4:50PM