A tractor trailer trucking accident shut down both east and west bound traffic on Illinois State Route 136, east of the town of Macomb, IL, on November 2nd. The accident involved both a semi truck and a pickup, and injured several people.
A local resident who declined to provide his name saw some of the results of the accident from his nearby home. He heard the collision take place near the intersection of Route 136 and County Road 1800 East, and said that it sounded like a sharp explosion. He said that he used his binoculars to see what had happened, and that from his home, he could only see the wheels of the pickup truck which had overturned in the collision.
At the time of the accident, local news reported that at least two people were injured. One of these was taken from the scene by a medical helicopter.
McDonough County Sheriff Rick VanBrooker provided additional details. According to the Sheriff, the pickup appeared to have drifted over the center line of the east-bound side of Route 136. This led to a driver’s side collision with the west-bound semi truck shortly thereafter.
The pickup truck was reported as having had two occupants at the time it overturned. The semi had only the driver in it. The driver of the pickup was taken to a nearby hospital in a medical helicopter due to his injuries. The semi truck driver and the passenger in the pickup, meanwhile, were taken to McDonough District Hospital in ambulances.
Deputies are still investigating the accident to determine exactly what happened to cause the pickup truck to go over the center line like it did. What is clear is that the driver and passenger in the pickup are fortunate to have survived. Collisions between a semi and smaller vehicles rarely turn out well for those who aren’t in the larger truck.
