A Friday afternoon drive on the eastbound Ohio Turnpike turned deadly near Elyria Township when a single-vehicle rollover killed a 28-year-old Lorain woman and injured three children, according to authorities. The driver, identified as Najalee N. Rivera, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the children were reported to have non-life-threatening injuries. Eastbound lanes near milepost 146.3 were shut down for about three hours as emergency crews worked the crash site and investigated.
Crash details from the highway patrol
According to WKYC, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that the Toyota RAV4 Rivera was driving went off the right side of the roadway, hit a guardrail, and then overturned. Troopers said Rivera, of Lorain, was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The three juvenile passengers in the SUV, a 7-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl, and a 4-year-old girl, were taken from the scene by LifeCare Ambulance. Their injuries were described as non-life-threatening, and they were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Where the children were taken
Emergency crews with LifeCare Ambulance transported the children to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, according to responders at the scene. The Elyria campus includes a full emergency department that serves residents across Lorain County.
LifeCare Ambulance, based in Elyria, provides 911 emergency response throughout the county and notes on its website that its main operations are centered in Elyria. On Friday, its crews were part of the front-line response to the crash on the turnpike.
Seat belts and rollover risk
Rollover crashes are among the most dangerous types of collisions, and national safety research has long found that drivers who are not buckled up face a much higher risk of being killed. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety notes that seat belts significantly cut the chance of deadly injury across many crash types, highlighting how hazardous it can be when a driver is unrestrained in a rollover.
Investigation ongoing
The crash remains under investigation. Troopers said the eastbound stretch of the turnpike was closed for about three hours while crews cleared the wreckage and collected evidence from the scene.
WKYC reports that the Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted by the Elyria Township Fire Department, the Lorain County coroner's office, the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, and Rich's Towing. Authorities have not released additional information about what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway.
