ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — In the early hours of July 28, four family members were heading to the airport on I-75 in Royal Oak near 11 Mile Road when a wrong-way driver hit them head-on, killing three of them.
Now, family members of the four are demanding for something to be done about wrong-way drivers, hoping another family doesn't have to experience their pain.
At around 3 a.m. that Sunday morning, a wrong-way driver was driving north in the southbound lanes of I-75, hitting the family head on. The 29-year-old driver also died in the crash.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Wrong way-driver, three others killed in crash on I-75 in Royal Oak
Police say they received multiple calls of the driver heading the wrong way before the crash happened.
Angelica Galvan is still searching for answers and picking up the pieces after losing her brother Suriel Galvan, who was 34 years old, her father Celerino Galvan, who was 54, and her sister in law’s father Antonio Martinez, who was 71, all on the same night.
"We are looking for answers," Angelica Galvan said. "Why was he heading on the wrong direction?"
Maria Martinez, Suriel Galvan’s wife, was also in the car. She is recovering at a local hospital but is expected to survive. That’s where Angelica Galvan and her aunt Lucia remain, taking care of her as she recovers.
"Doctors said she still has a long process where we're hoping she's getting a little better each day," Angelica Galvan said.
The four family members were all on their way to the airport to see Antonio Martinez off as he was heading back to Mexico after a visit.
Suriel Galvan moved his entire family and two children from Mexico to Troy only a year and a half ago due to a transfer within his job as an engineer.
It was an opportunity at a better life that was cut too short.
"We're still all in shock and we're still trying to process the fact that they're not here anymore and we're not going to see them," Lucia Galvan said. "It's senseless to us. There has to be some better prevention for wrong-way drivers."
On Monday, Michigan State Police said they are still waiting for the toxicology reports to come back of the wrong-way driver, but the family wants more to be done.
The Michigan Department of Transportation says with newly acquired grant dollars, they are looking at adding wrong-way driver prevention technology and cameras to parts of I-696 and I-375. However, those projects are still only in the beginning stages.
Video below from MDOT shows wrong-way driving detection system in Grand Rapids:
The only thing the family can do now is support Maria Martinez and her two children while grieving the loved ones they have lost.
If you'd like to donate to the family for funeral arrangement and for Maria Martinez's recovery, you can do so online.
