Royal Oak, MI : Drugs, alcohol suspected in fatal I-696 crash in Royal Oak on Tuesday, 2nd January 2018

Michigan State Police are investigating the suspected role that drugs and alcohol played in a fatal crash on Interstate 696 in Royal Oak five minutes before the new year began.

State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said a woman driving a 2018 Jeep Compass was killed at 11:55 p.m. Sunday as she was standing outside her vehicle after crashing into a median and was struck by a man driving a Ford Ranger.

Shaw said the investigation is continuing and would not identify either the woman killed or the driver of the Ranger.

The woman had been spotted driving erratically on east I-696 before she crashed near Bermuda in Royal Oak. Her vehicle stopped on the left shoulder next to the median, but it partly blocked part of the left traffic lane.

A man in another vehicle with a passenger stopped to give assistance to female driver, police said.

The Good Samaritans saw the driver of the Ranger coming toward them at about 70 mph and jumped over the median wall, avoiding injury.

“The driver of the Ford Ranger was in the left lane, lost control and went onto the shoulder of the road,” Shaw said. “The Ranger struck the woman outside (her Jeep), killing her instantly.”

The man driving the Ranger stopped after fatally striking the woman and has been cooperating with police investigators.

Source :
Drugs, alcohol suspected in fatal I-696 crash in Royal Oak