TAYLOR, Mich. – Local 4 is learning more about a deadly head-on collision involving someone driving the wrong way in Taylor.
The crash occurred on Sunday (Feb. 25) on Telegraph Road, and officials say it was one of the worst accidents investigators have ever seen.
The wrong-way driver was a 32-year-old mother of a 4-year-old, and police say she did not survive after hitting a 40-year-old man who was on his way to work.
“There is a car going the wrong down Telegraph southbound on the northbound side,” said a caller to police operators.
The frantic calls to Taylor 911 began pouring in at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Driver after driver alerted Taylor police as they watched the mother speeding south on Telegraph Road in the northbound lane.
“I have someone going the on the wrong side of Telegraph,” said another caller.
Taylor police said one driver followed the wrong-way driver for two to three miles, honking her horn desperately trying to get the wrong-way driver to stop - when she ran head-on into a 40-year-old man in a Dodge Ram.
“Jesus, it’s a bad accident,” said another caller. “I am right here. I am trying to get on Telegraph.”
Taylor police officer Anthony Borg, an accident investigator, described what happened that night.
“I was notified by my lieutenant of a serious accident on Telegraph Road just off of Schomberg that came in as a wrong-way driver on Telegraph,” said Borg.
That driver could have killed someone, but the 32-year-old in a Land Rover was the one who was killed.
Taylor police said the woman’s family said she was on her way home after a night out with friends in Detroit.
Police believe the woman pulled off I-94 and began speeding down Telegraph Road.
“If you see a wrong-way driver, just try to pull over to the shoulder, enter into a business parking lot as quickly and as safely as you can,” Borg said. “Now, on the other end, if you’re a driver and you have been drinking too much or you’re tired or anything and you don’t think you should be driving, I recommend calling a friend to come pick you up. There’s Uber, but just pull over.”
Officials say the 4-year-old was at home when her mother died in the accident.
Police say a toxicology is being done in Detroit to see if drugs, alcohol, or a medical condition was the reason for the accident.
The 40-year-old man is listed in serious condition.
