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Police: Alcohol a factor, not cause, of URI students' crash
Jennifer Scungio
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: News
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04/17/07 - Rhode Island State Police have announced that alcohol may have been a factor in the March 30 automobile crash that killed two University of Rhode Island students.
URI sophomores Marissa Salabert, 19, and Tiffany DeSisto, 20, were driving southbound on Route 95 past the Route 295 intersection in Warwick, where police say Salabert lost control of her car and veered off the highway onto the median. The car then returned onto the highway, stalled in the center lane and was struck on the passenger's side by a tractor-trailer.
The impact killed DeSisto instantly; Salabert died four days later at Rhode Island Hospital.
"We don't know what caused them to go off the road, but we believe alcohol played a factor," state police Lt. David Neill said.
Neill said state police were able to come to this conclusion through investigations and witnesses who saw them drinking at a nightclub in Providence. Neill would not release the name of the nightclub the two were at earlier that evening.
"Although we're saying, yes, alcohol was a factor, we're not saying that it is the reason," Neill said. "That we won't be able to determine."
He added there will be no further investigation about the women's alcohol use.
Neill said the first call to the scene came in around 1:50 a.m.
"The vehicle went in the center of the grassy median for about 157 feet," he said. "They came back to the highway, probably overcompensated a little, and turned the vehicle perpendicular to the middle lane of travel."
Neill said the truck driver who struck Salabert's car is not being charged.
"It was no fault of his," Neill said. "He attempted to stop the car and was unable to. And speaking to witnesses, no [head]lights were on [Salabert's car]."
Neill said drivers go off the road for a variety of reasons, such as not paying attention to the road, being on a cell phone or changing the radio.
State police determined that speed was not a factor with Salabert's car.
"The accident reconstruction unit concluded that the vehicle was traveling within five miles of the speed limit, about 55 to 60 miles per hour," Neill said.
A memorial service for the students will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom.
URI sophomores Marissa Salabert, 19, and Tiffany DeSisto, 20, were driving southbound on Route 95 past the Route 295 intersection in Warwick, where police say Salabert lost control of her car and veered off the highway onto the median. The car then returned onto the highway, stalled in the center lane and was struck on the passenger's side by a tractor-trailer.
The impact killed DeSisto instantly; Salabert died four days later at Rhode Island Hospital.
"We don't know what caused them to go off the road, but we believe alcohol played a factor," state police Lt. David Neill said.
Neill said state police were able to come to this conclusion through investigations and witnesses who saw them drinking at a nightclub in Providence. Neill would not release the name of the nightclub the two were at earlier that evening.
"Although we're saying, yes, alcohol was a factor, we're not saying that it is the reason," Neill said. "That we won't be able to determine."
He added there will be no further investigation about the women's alcohol use.
Neill said the first call to the scene came in around 1:50 a.m.
"The vehicle went in the center of the grassy median for about 157 feet," he said. "They came back to the highway, probably overcompensated a little, and turned the vehicle perpendicular to the middle lane of travel."
Neill said the truck driver who struck Salabert's car is not being charged.
"It was no fault of his," Neill said. "He attempted to stop the car and was unable to. And speaking to witnesses, no [head]lights were on [Salabert's car]."
Neill said drivers go off the road for a variety of reasons, such as not paying attention to the road, being on a cell phone or changing the radio.
State police determined that speed was not a factor with Salabert's car.
"The accident reconstruction unit concluded that the vehicle was traveling within five miles of the speed limit, about 55 to 60 miles per hour," Neill said.
A memorial service for the students will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom.
