A back-seat argument, and a plea for different music on the radio caused a distracted driving crash this morning near Baroda that led to a grinding wreck with a garbage truck, resulting in a young mother and three kids being taken to the hospital instead of to school.
Shortly after 8am, Baroda-Lake Township Police Chief Shawn Martin says his team was dispatched to the scene of the accident on Shawneed Road just east of Hills Road. A Dodge Caravan mini-van sustained heavy front end damage when it collided with the rear end of a Michiana Recycling & Disposal Truck that was pulled to the side of the road making a pick-up stop.
Garbage truck driver Rodney Fick was stopped eastbound on the shoulder of the road and was outside of his vehicle dumping waste from residential garbage cans along his route when 28 year old Amanda Nack was approaching, also headed eastbound on Shawnee Road. She told police her kids were arguing in the back of the minivan. She glanced in the rearview mirror and instructed them to stop the bickering. As they were settling down, one of the kids asked mom to change the radio station. She looked briefly down at the radio dial to make the change and she told police the next thing she knew was that the airbags were deploying and the vehicle began to fill with “airbag dust.” The minivan had slammed into the rear of the disposal truck.
Taken by Medic 1 Ambulance to Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph were the driver, Amanda, and her three sons, 9-year old Aiden, 7-year old Tristan, and 4-year old Bryson Nack.
The driver of the disposal truck was not injured, and he was the one who called 911. Fortunately, all members of the Nack family were wearing their seatbelts, keeping them from more serious injury. Their conditions were not reported this evening.
The Baroda-Lake Township Police were assisted at the scene by Bridgman City Police, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Accident Reconstruction Team, the Baroda Fire Department, Lake Township Fire/Rescue and Medic 1.
The incident remains under investigation.
