Three women from Detroit were killed early on Sunday, November 1, when their vehicle left the southbound Lodge Freeway (M-10) near Wyoming Avenue in Detroit, the Michigan State Police said. It was a single-vehicle crash, and troopers responded at about 2 a.m.
Source: WDIV ClickOnDetroit, reporting Michigan State Police
What state police have said so far
According to the Michigan State Police account reported by Detroit television stations WDIV and WXYZ, troopers were called to the southbound lanes of M-10 near Wyoming Avenue at about 2 a.m. on Sunday. The preliminary investigation indicates the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve, left the freeway, and all three women in it died.
Source: WDIV ClickOnDetroit, reporting Michigan State Police
State police have not, in the reporting published on Sunday, released the women's names or ages, and they have not announced a finding on whether speed, alcohol or any other factor played a role. Readers should treat every detail beyond the preliminary account — the curve, the departure from the freeway and the three deaths — as unconfirmed until troopers complete their investigation and release it.
A deadly night on Detroit's freeways
The Lodge crash was not the only fatal freeway call state police handled in Detroit that night. About two hours earlier, at around 11:45 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, troopers responded to a three-vehicle crash on the westbound Davison Freeway (M-8) near I-75, in which a child was killed and five other people were injured, and a driver was arrested, WDIV and WXYZ reported. The two crashes are separate incidents, in different parts of the city, and police have not linked them.
Source: WXYZ Channel 7 Detroit, reporting Michigan State Police
Together, the two calls made the hours after Halloween one of the deadliest nights of the year so far on metro Detroit's freeways — a stretch of the calendar, late on a Saturday night into Sunday morning, that troopers in Michigan and across the United States consistently treat as high-risk driving time.
As of Sunday evening's reporting, state police had not released the three women's names or ages, the make of the vehicle, or any finding on speed or impairment. Those facts belong to the completed Michigan State Police investigation.
The road: M-10, the Lodge Freeway
M-10 is the John C. Lodge Freeway, one of Detroit's oldest and busiest freeways, running from downtown Detroit northwest through the city toward Southfield and the I-696 corridor. The Wyoming Avenue stretch sits on Detroit's west side, carrying traffic between downtown and the northwest suburbs at all hours. Its curves and ramps through the city are driven every night by shift workers, airport traffic and weekend crowds heading home.
For the Punjabi and other immigrant communities who live and work across metro Detroit — including truck drivers crossing the city on overnight runs — the Lodge is a daily route, which is why a triple-fatality crash on it in the middle of the night draws attention well beyond the neighbourhood where it happened.
What happens next
The Michigan State Police investigation continues. The next confirmed steps are the formal identification of the three women — normally released after families are notified — and the patrol's completed findings on how the vehicle came to leave the freeway at the curve. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when state police release those details, and will not publish names before the families have been told.