[FEB. 14, 2006]
MOUNT PULASKI -- An accident
north of Mount Pulaski involving two trucks and a car led to the
deaths of one truck driver and the driver of the car on Monday
afternoon. The victims were Ron Creighton, 43, of Rochester and John
McWhirter, 53, of Decatur.
Creighton was pronounced dead at the scene by
Logan County Deputy Coroner Warren Rogers. McWhirter, who was the
driver of the car, was taken to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital,
where he was pronounced dead.
The accident occurred at 1:49 p.m. on Illinois Route 121 about
four blocks south of County Road 1200 North (Chestervale Road).
Franchie L. Ellis, 49, of St. Louis Mo., was traveling northbound
on Route 121, driving a white 2004 Freightliner, white box trailer
for J.B. Hunt Transport. Snow had been blowing and drifting across
scattered portions of the roadway. Ellis lost control of the
tractor-trailer combination on a snowy portion of the roadway.
McWhirter was driving southbound on Route 121 in a silver 2005
Toyota Avalon when the Ellis truck crossed the centerline of the
roadway and sideswiped the Toyota. The Toyota came to rest in the
west ditch after impact.
Immediately following McWhirter was Creighton, driving a 2004
Western Star truck-tractor pulling a dump trailer loaded with coal.
Creighton was unable to avoid the Ellis truck, which had jackknifed
and was in the middle of the road.
Ellis and McWhirter's 52-year-old wife, Sandra, were transported
to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital by ambulance with
non-life-threatening injuries.
Traffic on Route 121 was rerouted. Illinois Department of
Transportation and Illinois State Police specialists worked till
late in the evening reconstructing the scene.
Logan County Coroner Bob Thomas said that autopsies were being
performed on the deceased this morning.
The crash investigation continues and citations are pending.
Agencies assisting in the accident were the Logan County
Paramedic Association, Logan County sheriff
's
office, Lincoln Rural Fire Department, Mount Pulaski Police
Department, Mount Pulaski Fire Department, Illinois Department of
Transportation, Logan County coroner's office and Illinois State
Police.
