Woman killed while jump-starting car in middle of I-35

The Dallas Morning News ^ | September 24, 2003 | From Staff Reports

[MeekOneGOP]

Woman killed while jump-starting car in middle of I-35

10:35 AM CDT on Thursday, September 25, 2003

From Staff Reports

A 27-year-old Carrollton woman who tried to jump-start her stalled car in the middle of Interstate 35 on Wednesday night died after being struck by another vehicle, Dallas police said.

Meronne Danielle Fitzgerald’s car broke down about 10:15 p.m. on an inside, northbound lane just south of Royal Lane. A good Samaritan pulled his car in front of the Fitzgerald’s car to give her a jump, when a Mitsubishi struck the cars and the woman, Detective Frank Villa said.

Fitzgerald suffered a fatal head injury. The man trying to help the stranded driver and the Mitsubishi driver sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene. A second vehicle also hit the stalled vehicle.

Robert Flagg / WFAA-TV

A Carrollton woman died Wednesday night while trying to jump-start her car on I-35 near Royal Lane.

The vehicle was stalled just below a crest in the freeway, making visibility difficult, particularly at night, Villa said.

He said the freeway and the shoulder are not a safe places to make car repairs.

“Get off the freeway,” he said. “If you get a flat tire, ruin the rim and get off the freeway. The farther off the freeway you are the safer you are, especially at night.”

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/092503dnmetfatal.2ed25d87.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Rest in peace ...

[bedolido]

how sad! strange how events form to start and end a life.

[Lunatic Fringe]

DUH!

I-35 in Dallas at night is equivalent to the autobahn. People drive at incredible speed, and there is rarely a speed trap setup due to the configuration of the road.

Stopping on the inside lane? Just over a crest?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Very sad. Whevever I see somebody with a car stuck in a lane of traffic, I offer to push them to a better location with my car, and most of them are happy to accept the offer. Even when they're not in a really dangerous situation, it helps keep traffic flowing, and can even save the motorist a towing or road service charge, if you can get them to a service station.

[george wythe]

“Get off the freeway,” he said. “If you get a flat tire, ruin the rim and get off the freeway.

Good advice.

I remember a few years back the case of another woman who got a flat tire while traveling on the center lane of the freeway.

Instead of driving to the freeway shoulders, she stopped in the center lane and tried to cross the traffic. She died after being flown in the air by another car.

Personally, if my car starts giving me trouble, I try to pull over to the shoulders no matter what I ruin in my car. Instead of changing tires on a highway, I will call AAA and let a tow-truck do it.

On a city street or country road, I pull over away from traffic and change the tire myself.

[mitchbert]

A couple of years ago two guys broke down and came to rest on the shoulder of highway 401 in eastern Toronto. They were calmly sitting on the guardrail waiting for a tow truck when a police car stopped and the officer ordered them off the highway for their own safety. They climbed over the guardrail and started down the embankment. Not one minute later a tanker truck fully loaed with gasoline slammed into the car from behind and exploded killing the truck driver and I believe one or two other motorists in the ensuing chaos. You could see the smoke rising from the fire all across Toronto. The cop got away just in time, BTW.

[WL-law]

Not to be picky but --- although you can start a car with jumper cables, I thought that "jumpstarting" a car meant that you rolled a car with standard transmission and then popped the clutch. Or is the word sufficiently vague to cover both scenarios?

[556x45]

Understandable if youve ever driven around Canadians (and Rhode Islanders). Its scary in the most ideal situations.

[WL-law]

To answer my own question: from Dictionary.com,

jump-start (jmpstärt) tr.v. jump-·start·ed, jump-·start·ing, jump-·starts

To start (the engine of a motor vehicle) by using a booster cable connected to the battery of another vehicle or by engaging the drive train while the vehicle is rolling downhill or being pushed.

[kinghorse]

[Spruce]

You're thinking of a Bump-start

[mitchbert]

Understandable if youve ever driven around Canadians

Don't even get me started on what it's like driving in Montreal. I've gone up there for the Formula 1 race and I swear you'd feel safer on the track on a skateboard than on the highways leading into the downtown. And I'm not by any means a nervous driver.

[MeekOneGOP]

I think it was not too far from this accident site where Dwayne Goodrich, the now former Dallas Cowboy, plowed past an accident scene at 100 mph, killing two people ...

A very unsafe thing, especially at night.

[Melas]

That is a push start

[Tall_Texan]

Was the driver of the Mitsubishi a Dallas Cowboy on his way home from a titty bar?

[MeekOneGOP]

Aren't the cables used to start a car from another car's battery referred to as 'jumper cables' ?? ...

Jump-start

[roadcat]

“Get off the freeway,” he said. “If you get a flat tire, ruin the rim and get off the freeway. The farther off the freeway you are the safer you are, especially at night.”

Very sad, my heart goes out to the family of this young woman. Just a couple days ago my 24-yr daughter had a blowout of a tire and waited on the side of the freeway for her boyfriend to come help her. I shudder to think of what could have happened.

I've gotten stuck a few times on freeways. Long time ago our car died on a bend of a busy freeway after midnight. No way were me, my wife and our 2-yr-old baby going to wait on a blind curve. We walked on the side of the right lane towards an exit, often with only a couple feet between cars whizzing by at 65mph and a barrier to the right. The scariest part was holding my child low in front of me while we walked over a segment high above railroad tracks with a 2-foot railing next to us - I did not want to risk my baby being flung over the railing.

Just before the exit a car pulled over and offered a ride. The guy stunk of alcohol and was obviously drunk. We declined, walked off the exit and we got a cab home, counting our blessings.

[Old Professer]

See if I ever try to help you again! And, anyway it was pot not beer.

[pctech]

This is such a senseless death, but all the more prevailent in these times.

I was broadsided going through an intersection 2 years ago. The lady totally ignored her red light and ran through going about 55-65 MPH. I was about the 4th car through the light. Fortunately for me she hit me right behind the driver's side door, so her car didn't come into direct contact with my body. The impact zone was from the frame between the front and back door on the drivers side on back. She put the back tire into the back seat!!! I was knocked unconscious from the impact and have no memory of the accident, but the guy who witnessed it said he thought she was gonna kill me. She hit with enough force to spin my car 1 1/2 times before it stopped.

She hit me with enough force to give me whiplash for life, knocked out all my upper teeth, and gave me problems with my left leg. I came out of it in better condition than most, and better than this poor lady.

I tell you this because more and more people just don't care anymore about how they drive. Almost every day I go out I can count about 2-4 times a day where I see someone blatantly ignore the law and almost hit someone, or am almost hit myself. My kids are scared to drive because of what I went through and what they see every day.

I have never caused an accident in my life and God willing I never will, but unfortunately there are those out there who care less what kind of harm they cause because of their driving habits. I pray everyone here in Free Republic is a responsible driver, and I pray you all stay safe.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !! See #13 ...