While the public may see nothing wrong with three child deaths in this collision, anyone with sufficient experience and training in injury causation should be shouting loudly.
Granted, the OPP released just a single photo of the collision-involved vehicle in which three children perished (shown above) in a collision near Sudbury on January 1, 2020 when the vehicle reportedly struck a rock cut. And a single photo can be very misleading. But if this photo is so misleading, why would the OPP release it without explanation? Clearly this photo does not explain how three children could have sustained fatal injuries if they were the occupants of the white passenger car shown in the above photo.
The front end shows some crush but the right front wheel is only moderately displaced, rearward, in its wheelwell. And another classic sign of collision severity is to examine the displacement of the roof pillars.The pillars that are visible do not show any indication of displacement. It appears that the right rear door may have been removed by emergency personnel but there is no indication of massive crush in that region. So none of this evidence provides an explanation as how and why the children perished.
It has been observed in the past that police and news media like to play games with the public by not showing the area of principal and direct impact. Thus there could be major crush on the left side, the left rear, or even the rear surface of the vehicle and these areas are not visible in the above photo. But this is a matter of significant importance. Such games should not be played. We should be assured that the children did not die from some unusual reason that requires correction to protect future children.
If the above photo truly represents the primary area of direct contact with a rock cut then an explanation is clearly warranted. There is no reason why three children should die when the vehicle interior is intact and the moderate crush does not indicate a collision severity that limits survivability. Factors such as improper use of restraints or use of improper restraints could result in fatalities even though a collision is of moderate severity. And there could be other complicating factors. But if these complications exist they should never be kept from the public’s attention because, as has been said numerous times on this website, the public is the ultimate entity that should make change occur through its elected representatives.
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