A commercial truck driver from Indiana headed eastbound on I-94 in Van Buren County was blindsided by a woman who told State Police that she herself was blinded by the rising sun, leaving both of them in the ditch near mile-marker 55 in Lawrence Township early today. The unidentified woman was taken to Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo with serious, but apparently non-life-threatening injuries following the 7:30am accident.
The unidentified trucker was operating a rig for R. Angulo Trucking Company headquartered in Crown Point, Indiana. He was not injured in the incident, however both his rig and the woman's car needed to be towed from the scene.
Troopers from the Paw Paw Post say the woman was traveling east in the left lane when she lost control of her vehicle, veering into the right lane and directly into the path of the semi-tractor trailer headed in the same direction. The impact forced the woman's SUV into a guardrail on the right side of the freeway. When her car re-entered the road, she was sideswiped by the same truck, forcing the car back off the road and into a ditch on the ride side of the road. The semi-tractor trailer driver then lost control of his own vehicle and drove off the freeway and into the ditch along the ride side of the road.
There was no immediate indication as to what the truck was hauling, however Crown Point authorities say that the 19 truck fleet from R. Angulo Trucking typically haul sheet metal, lumber and building materials. The truck's load was not spilled onto the roadway or into the ditch.
Troopers were assisted by the Lawrence Fire Department, Van Buren Emergency Medical Services and MDOT mowing crews who were working in the area.
