Police: Car In Fatal Crash Topped 70 MPH+

The driver of a car involved in a traffic crash that killed three people on March 25 was allegedly driving more than 70 mph on Rand Road at the time of impact.

Ruslan Nairner, 37, of 9396 Landings Ln. #406, Des Plaines, was charged with reckless driving, speeding more than 35 mph over the limit, and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. He was taken into custody at his home at 8:44 a.m. Wednesday, June 13, according to a Des Plaines police report obtained through a Freedom of Information request made by the Journal.

On March 25 at 6:05 p.m., Nairner was allegedly driving southeast on Rand Road in a 2007 Lexus LS460. Amel Dilji, 16, was waiting to turn left from northwest Rand onto Golf Road. Video footage recovered from the scene showed Dilji turning on Golf when his 2007 Volkswagen Passat is allegedly struck by Nairner’s Lexus.

The Volkswagen was lifted into the air, the engine ripped from the vehicle, and the car flipped into a wooded area at the corner. Nairner’s car spun completely around, coming to rest again facing southeast on Rand. Nairner received minor injuries in the crash. Dilji was critically injured; the three passengers in his car, Serif and Edije Dilji, his parents, and Amra Dilji, his sister, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police impounded the two vehicles and began to run tests on them and to analyze the video data from the scene. They recovered the airbag control module for the Lexus and downloaded the information it held. Officers also conducted drag factor tests on the roadway. Calculations based on the weights of the vehicles and conservation of momentum indicated the Volkswagen was traveling at just under 3 mph while the Lexus was moving at about 70 mph when the impact occurred.

Data from the Lexus’ airbag control module showed the vehicle was driving at 73.3 mph at the time of impact. In addition, it showed the driver was accelerating for several seconds before the crash and had been driving at or above 75.8 mph, the highest limit the recorder can store.

According to the police report, if the Lexus had been traveling at the speed limit, the Volkswagen would have had an additional 4.2 seconds to clear the intersection. “…if the Lexus would have been traveling at the speed limit, the crash would have not occurred,” the report states.