Accident closes Highway 162 Wednesday morning

A two vehicle accident north of Ferdinand closed Highway 162 for two hours while police and first responders cleared the scene.

At around 5:30 a.m., 19-year-old Dylan Hirsch, of Bristow, was driving north on State Road 162 when he fell asleep and drifted left of center. Hirsch struck 27-year-old Luke D. Bawel, of Huntingburg, head-on. Bawel’s vehicle slid down an embankment and stopped in a cornfield on the east side of State Road 162. Hirsch’s vehicle stopped in the northbound lane of the highway with several feet of the collision.

Both drivers were taken to Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Hirsch’s 1991 Ford truck and Bawel’s 2010 Dodge truck were totaled in the accident.

The Sheriff’s Department was assisted on scene by the Ferdinand Police Department, Ferdinand Fire Department and Memorial EMS.