Around 7:30 pm on January 2nd near Indianapolis, Indiana, 55 year old Carrine Scott, Jr. was driving southbound on I-65. According to police reports, he apparently struck a guard rail on the right hand side of the highway, spun his vehicle and struck the lefthand guardrail as well. At this point, his vehicle crossed the median and slid into northbound traffic. It was then that a northbound semi truck hit Scott’s vehicle. Scott died at the scene of the accident from his injuries.
According to Chief deputy Mike Nielson of the Boone County Sheriff’s office, “It was a pretty hefty impact, and he was struck on the passenger’s side. The semi pushed him about another 150 feet north of the impact area and forced him into the guard rail at that point.”
The driver of the semi truck was not injured in the crash. However, deputies did take him to a nearby hospital for a routine alcohol screening. At this time, it does not appear alcohol was involved in any way in this accident. There is also no way to tell whether the inclement weather had anything to do with the collision.
It had been snowing extensively, and road conditions were poor at best. The police and local papers described it as a day filled with accidents and minor collisions, and it was apparently only a matter of time before someone was killed.
The chief thing this accident illustrates is that semi trucks are risky to be around even when their driver is clearly not at fault. Inclement weather and difficulty controlling an already ponderous and overweight vehicle meant that there was probably no way to save Scott’s life, and another collision ended in needless tragedy. Again, we urge all drivers to be extra cautious when driving on an interstate and sharing traffic with semi trucks, especially during adverse weather conditions.
