A 3-year-old girl was killed in a car crash in Utah after being ejected from her mother’s car while still in her car seat.
Norma Jones, 35, and her toddler daughter, Rosie Jones, from Duchesne, were on their way to pick-up food when they were thrown from the front seats of their Volkswagen Passat in a head-on collision that took both of their lives on Tuesday, KSL reported.
Her other two children, 6-year-old Anthony and 11-year-old Freddie, were also in the car but miraculously survived the wreck.
Initially, Utah Highway Patrol reported that no one in the car was wearing a seatbelt, but the department believes that Freddie may have been wearing one.
Now the family is promoting the importance of wearing a seatbelt.
Norma Jones, 35, and her toddler daughter, Rosie Jones, 3, were killed in a car crash in Utah on Tuesday after being ejected from the front seats of the car without wearing seatbelts
Jones and three of her children were on the way to pick up food from the Herber Food Bank Tuesday afternoon on US-40 in Wasatch County when her car crossed over the line into oncoming traffic, crashing head-on with a Dodge Ram pickup truck
‘Seeing Freddie stand here with us today really gave me an eye-opener of why you should wear a seat belt,’ Fred Jones, Norma’s surviving husband, told KSL.
‘It’s a miracle that two of my four are standing today with us.’
The family were on the way to pick up food from the Herber Food Bank Tuesday afternoon on US-40 in Wasatch County when her car crossed over the line into oncoming traffic, crashing head-on with a Dodge Ram pickup truck, Fox 13 reported.
Jones and her daughter were both in the front of the car unrestrained.
The 3-year-old child was fully ejected from the car and Jones was partially ejected, killing them both on impact.
The 3-year-old child was fully ejected from the car while still in her car seat and Jones was partially ejected, killing them both on impact
The two surviving boys were in the backseat at the time of the crash and were airlifted to the hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
Six-year-old Anthony was released from Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City on Thursday after suffering from a broken back, ribs and a dislocated hip, KSL added.
He is said to be recovering after undergoing back surgery.
Eleven-year-old Freddie was scraped up but suffered the most minimal injuries.
The two men who were occupying the pickup truck were taken by ambulance to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Thankfully, they were wearing seatbelts.
Her other two children, 6-year-old Anthony and 11-year-old Freddie, were also in the car but miraculously survived the wreck
The two men who were occupying the pickup truck were taken by ambulance to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and thankfully were wearing seatbelts
Jones was described as a devoted figure to both her children and her husband.
Fred Jones took to Facebook on Wednesday to mourn his wife and share an album of family pictures.
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‘Today my family took a loss, I will miss the two of you, I love you Norma Jones, Rose Jones, RIP,’ the caption said. ‘We are forever Joneses.’
Norma Garcia, Norma’s mother, told KSL: ‘The best mother in the world. Was taking care of you, kids.’
Highway 40 was shut down for several hours as crews cleaned up debris from the accident, Fox 13 added.
Drivers were told to avoid the area until later that evening due to the traffic back-up that was nearly five miles long.
‘What I can say to anybody that is driving a vehicle or has a family and loved ones like me… I would put that seat belt on,’ Fred told KSL.
Using a seat belt is the most effective way to save lives in the case of a crash. They reduce crash-related injuries by about half, the CDC reported.
Fred Jones, Norma’s husband, stressed the importance of wearing a seatbelt after he lost his daughter and wife in the accident
Fred believes that it’s a miracle that two of his four loved ones were able to live through the wreck and became emotional during an interview where he hugged one of his surviving children
Jones was described as a devoted figure to both her children and her husband and further described as ‘the best mother’
Yet, millions of people still forget to strap themselves in while on the road.
Car accidents are one of the leading causes of death among people the age of one to 54 in the United States.
In 2021, 26,000 people were killed in a car wreck. More than half of those killed (51 percent to 61 percent) were not buckled up at the time of the accident.
In 2017 alone, the use of seatbelts saved almost 15,000 lives.
A family friend of the Jones family has set up a GoFundMe for support which has already raised $12,343.
Fred is now left as the sole caregiver for his five remaining children.