Elmhurst Fatal Crash Victim Not Wearing Seat Belt: Cops

ELMHURST, IL – A woman who died in a fatal crash last year in Elmhurst was not wearing her seat belt, authorities said.

This week, Patch obtained the full police report through a public records request.

Elmhurst police got the Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigation Team, or MERIT, to conduct much of the investigation. The team typically handles major crashes.

Shortly after 5 a.m. July 5, 37-year-old Renee Oden of Chicago was headed east on St. Charles Road near Hill Avenue when she went over the center line with her 2021 Chevrolet Equinox and struck an oncoming car.

Oden was with a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl.

It took an effort for officers to extract Oden from the car. She was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

The investigation team said the car's data recorder showed Oden was not wearing a seat belt.

The children were believed to be in the back seat.

"There were no child restraint systems in the vehicle, and it was unknown if either child was wearing a seat belt. Speed did not appear to be an issue," the report said.

The recorder indicated Oden did not apply her brake pedal before the crash, investigators said. She was reported to be slightly speeding up beforehand, reaching about 35 mph in a 30 mph zone, investigators said.

"(T)he data is suggestive of inattentive driving," the report said. "This could be distracted driving drowsy driving and/or impaired driving."

The other driver, who was headed west in an Audi SUV, tried to swerve, but was unsuccessful, police said. It was a head-on crash.

The other driver and the children in Oden's car were taken to hospitals.

Oden was married to Gerald Britts of Chicago. In 2021, Oden was the co-host of an episode of Britts' "The Whole Truth" podcast on iHeart.