Head-on collision kills one

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June 29, 2009

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL The Commercial-News Mon Jun 29, 2009, 08:31 PM CDT

DANVILLE — Traffic in both directions of Interstate 74 was at a standstill late Monday morning following a head-on collision between a pickup truck and a semi tractor-trailer.

The incident happened at about 11:15 a.m. Monday in the westbound lanes of Interstate 74 between the Gilbert Street and Bowman Avenue exit ramps.

Tilton and Lynch Fire Protection District personnel responded to the scene. The semi driver told emergency personnel he was driving west down the interstate when the four-door blue pickup truck just appeared on the roadway headed east.

The two vehicles collided, just west of the Bowman Avenue ramp, with the semi sitting across both lanes of westbound traffic. Pickup trucked sustained major front end damage and came to rest in the median near the eastbound lanes.

Lynch Fire Chief Scott Weidig said the pickup driver was pronounced dead inside the truck. Rescue personnel from both fire districts worked to cut his body out of the vehicle.

The driver, a 79-year-old Georgetown man, was not immediately identified by Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson who said she had spoken to the wife of the driver. Other family had not yet been contacted by mid-afternoon Monday.

An autopsy is slated for this afternoon on the driver.

Weidig said the impact left a piece of semi in the cab of the pickup truck next to the 79-year-old driver.

A driver and a passenger in the semi were shaken up, but not injured in the accident. Weidig said the passenger, who was sleeping at the time, was thrown into the cab of the semi and almost into the windshield as a result of the head-on collision.

In addition to rescue personnel, members of the Vermilion County Haz Mat team were called in to handle about 60 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled into a storm drain located where the accident took place.

Weidig said the team was able to confine the spilled fuel to the storm drain, keeping it out of local waterways.

Illinois State Police are handling the investigation into the accident.

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