Thursday, January 8, 2015

2-VEHICLE CRASH CAUSES SEMI-TRUCK TO JACK-KNIFE AND RELEASE ALUMINUM COILS ONTO I-80/94 IN GARY, INDIANA



2-VEHICLE CRASH CAUSES SEMI-TRUCK TO JACK-KNIFE AND RELEASE ALUMINUM COILS ONTO I-80/94 IN GARY, INDIANA


Until 5 p.m. Thursday all roadway lanes except the inner shoulder were closed for police investigation and re-loading of the coils

Indiana State Police

Thursday, Jan 8, 2015 • Updated at 7:02 PM CST

A three vehicle crash on westbound I-80/94 caused a semi-truck to spill aluminum coils onto the interstate Thursday in Gary, Indiana, police reported.

At about 2 p.m. a 72-year-old man was merging onto I-80 westbound from the I-65 northbound ramp when he lost control of his Chevrolet HHR and spun sideways, crashing into the driver’s door of a Ford pickup truck that was in the roadway’s right lane, preliminary investigator Jerry George reported.

The collision pushed the pickup truck in front of a Volvo semi-truck pulling a box trailer that was traveling in the middle lane. When the driver of the semi swerved to try to avoid the pickup, it caused his semi to jack-knife, according to the police report.

The semi was carrying aluminum coils weighing a total of 25,000 pounds, police said. Three of the five coils the semi was carrying spilled out onto the middle of the roadway in the incident.

The victims of the crash were taken to North Lake Methodist Hospital to treat non-life threatening injuries. They were all wearing their seat belts, according to police.
Until 5 p.m. Thursday all roadway lanes except the inner shoulder were closed for police investigation and re-loading of the coils.