Autumn Stone hospitalized after vehicle collides with moose

An 18-year-old Anchorage woman is recovering in the intensive care unit after her vehicle collided with a moose on a dark, icy roadway Monday evening.

Winter Commuting Hazards on Minnesota Drive

Autumn Stone was driving home along Minnesota Drive near the Raspberry exit when the moose appeared in the roadway, according to a report. Her mother, Megan Stone, noted that she does not believe her daughter had any time to brake before the impact occurred.

Emergency responders arrived to find a badly damaged vehicle with the driver trapped inside. Firefighting units had to deploy rescue equipment to cut her free from the wreckage.

Anchorage firefighter Jason Dolph described the physics involved in these incidents. When a vehicle strikes a moose, the animal often becomes suspended in the air before landing on the hood, windshield, and roof area. According to Dolph, those impacts can subject a vehicle to forces of 30 to 40,000 pounds.

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Seasonal Moose Movement and Visibility Challenges

State wildlife officials note that there are usually about 100 moose-vehicle collisions in the Anchorage bowl in a typical year. The frequency accelerates as seasonal factors converge.

Cory Stantorf, a Fish and Game Biologist, explained the environmental variables that heighten the risk for motorists.

Not only do we have moose moving because of the rut, following cows, we are also doing that morning commute in the pitch-black, kids are going to school in the pitch-black, and there’s not a lot of contrast without snow to illuminate these moose. So drivers really need to slow down because there’s just not the reaction time that we have in the summer.

Without snow to illuminate these moose, drivers face visibility deficits, reducing reaction margins.

Autumn Stone hospitalized after vehicle collides with moose

Medical Status and Recovery Expectations

Medical evaluations indicate that Autumn Stone avoided catastrophic injuries despite the severity of the structural damage to her car. Her mother confirmed that she sustained a broken hand, lacerations, and some brain bruising.

She remains under observation in the ICU, where medical staff anticipate she will stay for several days.

“It’s horrifying to see those photos as her mom, but I’m also grateful, because I can put into context just how close we were to losing her,” Megan Stone said.