Tractor-trailer crashes into Indiana State Police patrol car, two troopers injured
Two state troopers were injured Wednesday when a tractor-trailer struck their car while they were diverting traffic on Interstate 69 in Vanderburgh County.
At about 9:10 a.m. CST, Troopers Kylen Compton and Taylor Fox were assisting the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department at a property damage crash involving a semi and a passenger vehicle on I-69 southbound near the 17-mile marker.
Troopers Compton and Fox were in a 2011 Dodge Charger parked in the passing lane diverting traffic into the driving lane. The vehicle’s emergency red and blue lights were activated, and southbound traffic had been moving over to the driving lane without any problems.
Gary Pride, 67, of Otwell, was driving his 2007 Peterbilt tractor-trailer southbound on I-69 and for unknown reasons failed to move over. The tractor crashed into the rear of the patrol car.
After the initial impact, the patrol car was pushed across both lanes and into the guardrail on the west side of I-69. The tractor-trailer drove into the driving lane striking a 2013 Volvo that was traveling south in the driving lane. The Volvo came to a final rest on the shoulder.
The tractor-trailer then struck the guardrail and the concrete bridge wall on the west side before rolling onto its driver’s side and partially onto the 2013 Volvo.
The tractor-trailer was hauling a load of soybeans which spilled over both southbound lanes. The truck driver and the driver of the Volvo, JoAnna Cochren, 45, of Petersburg, were not injured.
Both troopers were transported to Deaconess Gateway Hospital where they were treated for minor injuries and later released.
Pride was cited for failing to yield the right of way to a stationary emergency vehicle.
I-69 southbound at State Road 57 is still closed while crews clean up the crash site.
Troopers typically patrol solo, but Fox is a new trooper and he’s currently working with other troopers during his training process.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department assisted at the scene.
How do you NOT see…? You don’t see it if you don’t want to see it – if you think you’re too special or too BIG to obey such simple and easy-to-navigate directions you think are meant only for ordinary drivers and cars – if you’re drowsy or distracted – if you’re DUI – if your equipment fails in which case you have the presence of mind to blow your horn for all it’s worth and make every effort to avoid the most obvious and serious consequences, but you don’t do it – or if you wait until the last second to move over and then find it’s too late with no where to go.
There are no excuses for something such as this – none. It was too hare-brained, too inexplicable. Only by God’s grace were there no serious or fatal injuries. You don’t get a second chance – the ramifications are too great. Your employer should fire you, the injured should sue you, and the state and any other state as notified by the Federal DOT or Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Admin should immediately and permanently revoke your CDL and any future opportunity to obtain another – for life. Yes, for life. Your CDL driving is over. You change careers. To clarify, you can still drive for a living – a smaller delivery truck, van or other vehicle of some kind, but not one that requires a CDL. Never again.
maybe it was medical one should not judge not knowing the whole story.