Girl, 8, critical after being ejected from van

Stephen Curran

Friday, March 11, 2005 | 11:38 a.m.

A Las Vegas girl was airlifted in critical condition this morning after she was thrown from her father's minivan, Metro Police said.

Olivia Franzese, 8, was thrown into a light pole when she was ejected through a window of a Toyota Sienna when it collided with a 2002 Lexus about 8 a.m., said Detective Doug Nutton of Metro's traffic investigation section.

The Toyota driven by Ronald Franzese, 35, was traveling east on Patrick Lane -- through a gap between cars backed up on Jones Boulevard near Interstate 215 -- when it was broadsided by the Lexus. The Lexus was believed to have been traveling less than the posted 45 mph speed limit on Jones, Nutton said.

Officers said Olivia did not appear to haven been wearing a seatbelt, but that the van's three other passengers were.

"If you look at the collision, the injuries appear to be surviveable," Nutton said. "But if she's ejected, you defeat all the safety features of the car."

Olivia's mother, Kristi Franzese, and 10-year-old brother, Lorenzo, were taken to University Medical Center by ambulance but were not believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries.

The Lexus' driver, 59-year-old James Clarke, who was taken to UMC with a broken leg, told police he could not see the minivan coming around the line of stopped cars, Nutton said. He was not cited in the incident.

Ronald Franzese, who officers said was at fault for the accident, will likely face a citation for a misdemeanor right-of-way violation, Nutton said.

The detective said that trying to move through a line of stopped cars can be a risky maneuver that frequently leads to minor accidents, but legal if handled correctly, if traffic going the other direction is moving.

"They (the drivers who stop and make way for drivers traveling the other direction) are seemingly doing you a favor but it blocks both ways," Nutton said. "They don't really see each other until they're right on top of each other ... If it's successfully completed, it's a legal maneuver. It kind of creates itself out of the congestion."