I-255 Collision between Semi and Car Injures Three
On behalf of Brown & Crouppen, P.C. posted in Motor Vehicle Accident on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Police are saying distracted driving may be to blame for a car accident on the interstate near a St. Louis suburb that seriously injured one of the drivers and his two passengers, one of whom was partially ejected from the car when it struck a semi truck. They cited the driver, who was taken to the hospital, for failing to reduce speed to avoid the accident.
According to the police report, the accident took place in the southbound lanes of Interstate 255 near Dupo, Illinois, the evening of Jan. 23. A MAC Truck driven by a 43-year-old St. Louis-area resident was merging onto the interstate. To gather enough speed to keep up with traffic, the driver drove in the shoulder for a period. Once his truck reached about 45 miles per hour, he merged into the right-hand lane, the driver told police.
Another driver said that he saw a car driven by the injured man pass him in the right lane as the truck accelerated in the shoulder. The truck merged into the right lane and had been in that lane for at least seven seconds when the car crashed into the semi’s rear, the witness said.
The driver of the car, a 21-year-old man, was seriously injured, as were his passengers, a 27-year-old and a 21-year-old woman. The younger passenger was partially ejected from the car by the impact. She was taken to St. Louis University Hospital, and the other was taken to another nearby hospital.
Police said the driver told them that he was looking at his car radio just before the accident, suggesting that distracted driving may have been a factor. He reportedly did not recall what lane he was in before the collision or seeing the truck.
Source: Belleville News-Democrat, “Police: Driver ticketed, three serious hurt in I-255 accident,” Jennifer A. Bowen, Jan. 25, 2012