Who:
John Wellington Pomeroy, 49, and William Parker Kochis, 29, were killed on southbound US 131 in Plainfield Township, OH close to the Post Drive exit on 9/10/13 at 8 AM. They were part of a seven car crash caused by 58 year old Patrick Allen Doerr, who was one of many injured. Pomeroy and Kochis were in a 2008-era Chevrolet Malibu, while Doerr drove what was likely a 2009-era Ford F-150. Kochis was a father of 4 and the passenger in the Malibu.
How:
Per police reports, Doerr drove his Ford into rush hour traffic and rear-ended the Malibu in which Kochis and Pomeroy rode. Doerr was reportedly traveling at 84 mph and did not brake while the Malibu was traveling at 5 mph. Five more vehicles collided as a result, as the Malibu slammed into them and then stopped on a guard rail. Both occupants died instantly. Doerr denied falling asleep and using drugs, but refused a blood draw. A later urine test at the hospital revealed Doerr had cocaine and opiates in his body, but the results were inadmissable in court. Doerr, as a result, is only being charged with a misdemeanor, and was recently sentenced to the maximum sentence allowable, a year in jail.
Why:
This case, from an ethical perspective, is appalling. Doerr crashed into the Malibu because he was under the influence of drugs; this is why he refused the blood test after the crash. However, he is only being charged with a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail. The law here needs to be changed; police on-scene blood draws of surviving drivers should be mandatory in every fatal collision.
Ethics aside, this was a straightforward case of impaired driving. The 2008-era Malibu weighs ~3424 lbs. Unfortunately, none of its safety ratings were particularly relevant here due to the rear impact. The physics are all that matter here. It was hit by a 2009-era F-150, which weighs ~5199 lbs. Given the likely speeds of the collision (~80 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 1.51MJ of energy into the Malibu. Vehicles aren’t tested for rear impacts, so there’s no easy guide regarding the amount of force the Malibu was designed to safely handle from the back. What is clear is that 1.51MJ is a tremendous amount of energy, and it led to a catastrophic amount of intrusion into the Malibu.
The question of why Doerr survived, given the tremendous forces in the collision, is worth asking. The F-150 had a “good” frontal score and was designed to handle 377KJ of energy from such an impact. This means the F-150 experienced 400% as much energy as it was designed to. The fact that Doerr was able to survive is remarkable, and is a testament to the weight and construction of the F-150. However, that same weight and speed was what directly led to the death of the people he killed due to his negligence.
This was an entirely preventable tragedy, as are so many crashes in this country.
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