Fatal Crash Shuts Down 2 Lanes On I-80/94
UPDATED 04/14/11 11:15 a.m.
LAKE STATION, Ind. (CBS) -- Two lanes of the Borman Expressway (Interstate 80-94) were shut down Thursday morning, after a man was killed when his pickup truck rear-ended a semi hauling plate steel.
The accident happened in the westbound lanes of the expressway at the 13.4 mile marker, east of Central Avenue in Lake Station, according to a release from Indiana State Police Sgt. Ann Wojas.
Mark Reeves, 34, of Portage, Ind., was driving a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup, and he was entering an S-curve in a construction zone when he rear-ended a 2006 Freightliner semi-flatbed truck that was in the right lane, state police said.
The semi was hauling more than 46,500 pounds of plate steel.
Reeves lost control of his pickup, which began to go airborne and rolled at least twice. Reeves was thrown into the passenger seat and partially out the passenger door.
Reeves, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lake County (Ind.) Coroner's office, the release said. He suffered head trauma.
The left and center lane were closed until about 8:30 a.m. for reconstruction of the crash, removal of the vehicles and cleanup.
The semi is owned by Jack Link Truck Lines of Dyersville, Iowa. Driver Harry L. Schutte, 64, of Monona, Iowa, was not injured and there was no load loss, state police said.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
