Hartland Viper Crash the First Reported Public Road Accident

On April 15, the fatal car crash that claimed the life of Howell resident Martin Morse was the first reported crash of a 2013 SRT Viper on public roads, outside of a race course or a closed circuit test, according to Torque News.

Martin, 43, was a veteran member of the Chrysler Group engineering team and according to a preliminary investigation by the Michigan State Police, while driving last Sunday, excessively accelerated from M-59 onto the northbound ramp of US-23 where he lost control of his vehicle.

According to Torque News, highway on-ramps "provide the perfect excuse to accelerate quickly" but caution there is a "time and place for that type of driving" and say that "wet or icy roads are not the ideal conditions" to test high-performance cars.

Martin's vehicle traveled across the north bound US-23 traffic lanes and struck the center median cable barrier. The cable barrier has three cables and the vehicle traveled under the top two cables but was stopped by the bottom cable, according to the police report. 

"This accident should serve as a reminder of what can go wrong when a high performance car is pushed too far on public roads," according to the Torque News report. 

Martin is survived by his wife, Janine and children, Brandon (Colleen) Taylor, Brianna, Shanna, Charlotte and Nolan Morse; father, Larry (Kathy) Morse; mother, Georgine Morse; brothers, Chris (Vita), Keith and Mark Morse, according to his obituary from Lynch and Sons.