Woman killed in crash on Novi Road 

NOVI — A crash on Novi Road on Wednesday morning resulted in the death of a 54-year-old Waterford woman.

According to Novi Police Cmdr. Kristie Gruenwald, the woman was driving a gray Ford F-150 pickup truck southbound on Novi Road, just south of 13 Mile Road near Old Novi Road, at approximately 9:55 a.m. when a black Chevy Silverado pickup truck drove across the median — which is a center left turn lane in that area — and struck her broadside. The Silverado was being driven by a 25-year-old man from Bancroft, which is in Shiawassee County. The man had been heading north on Novi Road when he missed the curve and drove into the woman’s truck.

The crash investigation is being conducted by the Michigan State Police Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit. Gruenwald said that it appears the point of impact was the front quarter of the driver’s side of both vehicles.

Gruenwald said the vehicles were both “pretty mangled.” Rescue workers used the Jaws of Life to get the woman out of her vehicle. Gruenwald said it took them some time to get into the vehicle because of its condition, but that the woman was not showing any signs of life as they worked to free her. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the man was taken via ambulance to Providence Park Hospital where he remained in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon.

“He was being treated while we were trying to conduct the investigation, so preliminary information from him was captured, but we will need to do additional investigations or interviews at a later time, just to make sure we have a full picture of everything that is going on,” said Gruenwald.

She said police do not have a specific cause as to why the man missed the curve and went over the median. She said that it could have been a medical issue, or distracted driving, but they are unsure of the cause. Gruenwald said they don’t believe that alcohol was a factor at this time, but they will have the man tested for blood alcohol level to rule that out as a possible cause.

“There were no significant indicators that alcohol was the probable cause, but in a fatal accident such as this, we always look at every possible reason for the accident and investigate it thoroughly to prove or disprove something,” said Gruenwald.

The crash caused the road to be closed until 2 p.m. She said results from the investigation will probably take around two weeks to get a conclusive answer as to the cause.

Gruenwald said it is too early to tell at this time if charges will be brought against the man, as the investigation is ongoing.

“Without some kind of outside evidence to really indicate if there was some kind of negligence, I really can’t determine at this point if there will be any charges. We just don’t have enough information yet,” she said. “If there is something that indicates that (charges) will be warranted, we will definitely pursue that.”