 Incident: Double-fatality traffic crashLocation:
Interstate 55 southbound, milepost 124, Logan County
Date, time: May 8, 11:18 p.m.
Assisting agencies:
Illinois State Police, Logan County Sheriff's Department, Lincoln
Rural Fire Protection District, Illinois Department of
Transportation
Individuals involved:
-
Driver, Unit 1:
female, 21, Chicago
-
Driver, Unit 2: male, 67, Fall River,
Kan.
Narrative:
On May 8 at 11:18 p.m., the Logan County Sheriff's Department and
Illinois State Police responded to Interstate 55 southbound at
milepost 124 for a passenger vehicle stopped in the roadway. The
vehicle was stopped in the right-hand lane of traffic with no lights
on.
When Logan County deputies arrived on the scene, they observed a
tractor-semitrailer and a Hyundai passenger car were involved in a
traffic crash.
The Hyundai (Unit 1) was stopped southbound in the right-hand
traffic lane for an unknown reason. The tractor-trailer (Unit 2) was
traveling southbound in the right-hand lane and struck the rear end
of the Hyundai. The truck-tractor drove over the Hyundai and pushed
it across both the center lane and left lane of southbound
Interstate 55 and through the guardrail. After traveling through the
guardrail and the center median, the Hyundai came to rest on the
inside shoulder of Interstate 55 northbound.
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The driver of the Hyundai was not wearing her seat belt and was
ejected from the vehicle. The truck tractor continued southbound
through the median, down a steep embankment and into the creek
bottom under Interstate 55. The driver of the truck tractor was also
ejected from his vehicle. Due to the damage, it was undetermined if
the driver of the truck tractor was wearing his seat belt. Both
drivers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Names are being withheld pending notifications of next of kin.
An Illinois State Police crash reconstructionist investigated the
scene. Traffic on Interstate 55 southbound was diverted for
approximately five hours, and Interstate 55 northbound was reduced
to one lane of traffic. No hazardous materials were present on the
semitrailer.
Interstate 55 northbound and southbound will experience temporary
lane closures for several hours during the day in order to remove
the tractor-trailer from the scene.
[Illinois
State Police District 9 news release]
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