A Ball State University student who died in a car accident in March was legally intoxicated, according to toxicology reports.
Andrea Tallant, 19, had a blood-alcohol content of .18 percent, Delaware County Coroner Jim Clevenger said. The legal BAC limit in Indiana is .08 percent.
According to police reports, Tallant died March 19 after colliding with a sport utility vehicle and a semitrailer on Interstate 69. She drove about four miles north in the southbound lanes before the head-on collision with the SUV, according to police.
Besides the alcohol, Tallant also had traces of the prescription painkiller Darvon, Clevenger said. She had dental surgery before the accident, which is probably why she took the medication, he said.
"The amount was in a therapeutic dosage," he said. "She was not abusing the pain medication. We from talking to her family she had some teeth extracted and she was on some painkillers."
Although the amount of Darvon was within a safe limit when taken alone, the medication could have increased the effect of the alcohol, Clevenger said.
"While the medication was not a problem in itself, it's only a problem because it was mixed with alcohol, let alone the amount we found," he said.
Clevenger said Tallant died instantly from "multiple blunt traumatic injuries" after hitting the SUV. She was already dead when the semitrailer hit, he said.
"The cause of her death was obvious," Clevenger said. "The tragedy is just the fact that she was drinking and driving. That seems to be the culprit, the poor choices that we make."
In an earlier interview, Lt. Arlan Johnson from the Delaware County Sheriff's Department said the driver of the SUV, Jonathon Brown, was taken to Ball Memorial Hospital with serious injuries and was later transported to a hospital in Indianapolis.
Clevenger said Tallant was wearing a seat belt and the airbags deployed, but neither vehicle applied its brakes.
Johnson said there were no skid marks at the scene of the accident, which might mean Tallant was not using her headlights.
"This is a very, very tragic incident and these two vehicles hit with a great deal of force," he said. "It was a head-on impact and even though she was wearing a seatbelt and the airbags deployed, it wasn't enough to protect her from this force."
DeathTallant died March 19 after colliding with another vehicle and a semitrailer on I-69.
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