Teen Dies After Being Struck by Tire on Highway: Police

An 18-year-old woman has died after her vehicle was struck by a tire on the Kentucky section of Interstate-75, according to police.

Boone County officers, who operate in the area that borders Cincinnati, Ohio, were alerted to reports of a single-vehicle collision at the 176.5-mile marker on southbound I-75 at about 12:15 a.m. on Sunday, July 16.

Police said the preliminary investigation found Lauren A. Collins, of Independence, just south of Cincinnati, was the sole occupant of a white 2012 Buick LaCrosse when a tire suddenly struck her windshield.

Collins was taken to a nearby hospital, where police said that she succumbed to her injuries.

A Sunday, July 16, Boone County police news release added: "Deputies believe that another vehicle, possibly a dually pickup truck, was traveling northbound on I-75 when its tire suddenly broke away causing it to roll out of control and over the concrete barrier, where it ultimately struck Collins' vehicle.

"The Walton Fire Department extricated Collins and transported her to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

"Tragically, Collins passed away from her injuries while at the hospital. Next of kin was notified."

A Boone County information officer told Newsweek: "Ms. Collins sustained a traumatic head injury when the tire collided with her windshield. However, to date, I do not have an official cause of death from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office.

"Lastly, we have not yet identified the other vehicle and/or its driver from the northbound side of I-75."

Boone County police's accident reconstruction team has since taken charge of the investigation into the death.

According to Kentucky government statistics, 358 people have died on the state's highways so far this year. Of those, 19 fatalities were people aged between 18 and 20.

As of July 16 this year, 111 of the 358 died while wearing a seatbelt and 128 died when a seatbelt was not in use.

The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety added there were 744 highway fatalities between March 2022 and March 2023.

There were 806 highway fatalities in the state in 2021, 780 recorded in 2020, and 732 in 2019.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that an estimated 42,795 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the U.S. in 2022.

It added this represented a small decrease of about 0.3 percent when compared to the 42,939 fatalities reported for 2021.

"We continue to face a national crisis of traffic deaths on our roadways, and everyone has a role to play in reversing the rise that we experienced in recent years," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in April 2023.

"Through our National Roadway Safety Strategy, we're strengthening traffic safety across the country, and working toward a day when these preventable tragedies are a thing of the past."

Update 07/17/23, 11:09 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include police comment.