A car tore through the front door and bathroom of a home along M-59 in Highland Township on Friday after the driver allegedly passed out from inhaling whippets and crossed the median. The crash sent a vehicle through part of an Oakland County residence and raised questions about how such crashes are handled.
According to FOX 2 Detroit, the driver was accused of inhaling whippets behind the wheel before losing consciousness, crossing the median on Highland Road, and driving straight through the home's front door and into its bathroom.
Questions About Inhalant-Impaired Driving
Nitrous oxide's alleged role in the crash raises questions about how cases involving suspected inhalant impairment are handled.
The crash also raises questions about what evidence could be used in a case involving alleged nitrous oxide impairment.
Nitrous Oxide Can Reduce Oxygen
Inhaling nitrous oxide can dilute oxygen and may cause hypoxia. More than 13 million people have reportedly used nitrous oxide in their lifetime.
Michigan's 2024 Crackdown on Whippet Sales
The Highland Township crash lands amid a broader statewide reckoning with whippet misuse. In March 2024, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 58 into law, classifying objects designed to facilitate recreational nitrous oxide inhalation as illegal drug paraphernalia and banning their sale, per FOX 2 Detroit's earlier reporting. Michigan Compiled Laws § 333.7453 prohibits selling such paraphernalia, while § 333.7455 sets a misdemeanor penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
That legislative push followed a deadlier chapter in the state's whippet reckoning. Also in March 2024, an illegal storage facility packed with thousands of nitrous oxide and butane canisters exploded in Clinton Township, killing a 19-year-old bystander and setting off involuntary manslaughter prosecutions in Macomb County that are still working through court.
Whippet-Related Cases Elsewhere
Hoodline reported a 2025 crash and related charges.
A separate case in that same California county underscored the stakes when whippet use turns fatal. A 28-year-old wrong-way driver in Lemon Grove faced DUI and vehicular-homicide charges after a crash killed a passenger in another vehicle, with open alcoholic beverages inside the pickup and a nitrous oxide canister on the ground between the driver and the truck. No injuries or arrest details beyond the alleged whippet inhalation have been reported in the Highland Township crash.
