A USI student was killed in a car accident last week after her vehicle drifted into the other lane while traveling down Indiana 261 in Warrick County.
Bridget Ganey, a 49 year old pre-social work major, was traveling south on Indiana 261 Feb. 15 when her car drifted left of the centerline causing a head on collision with a 1988 Chevy pickup truck at 11:25 a.m.
According to Sgt. Todd Ringle of the Indiana State Police, Ganey was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, where she was pronounced dead at noon. The other driver was not injured during the accident.
Vanderburgh County Coroner Annie Groves said the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma due to the car accident.
Ringle said during the investigation it was found that Ganey was not wearing her seatbelt properly.
“Her model car had a two-part seat belt, a lap harness and a chest harness, for whatever reason Ganey was not wearing her lap harness,” Ringle explained. “The lack of a lap harness caused her to come up out of her seat then her head likely hit the roof.”
Another contributing factor to the accident, according to Ringle, was the slushy snow covered highway that day. Feb. 14 saw snowfall of six inches and classes were cancelled until noon Feb. 15.
Ringle stated that it was his understanding that Ganey was on her way to class.
He wanted to emphasize the importance of seatbelt safety.
“We really believed she would’ve survived had she been wearing both correctly,” Ringle said.
According to Ringle, the other driver was wearing his seat belt correctly at the time and was not injured despite both cars being totaled from the accident.
A service was held at Bailey-Love Mortuary in Huntington, IN Feb. 20. She was buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetary in Huntington, Ind.
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