Illinois: IDOT worker and driver struck, rushed to hospital

Two people were seriously injured, including an IDOT employee, after being struck by car along an exit ramp in the metro east Wednesday.

Illinois State Police are investigating the crash, which happened on the westbound I-64 westbound to Route 111.

ISP Trooper Calvin Dye, Jr. said it started with a one-vehicle collision. The driver of a 2006 Mercury lost control of his car on the exit ramp and slid into a ditch. The man, a 39-year old from East St. Louis, called for a tow truck to recover his car.

A towing company arrived to help, and ISP and IDOT set up traffic control along the exit ramp.

ISP says -- as the towing company worked -- the first driver and an IDOT employee were standing on the shoulder of the road. The towing job was almost complete the second crash happened.

ISP says a second driver, a 21-year old female from Belleville, came onto the ramp too quickly and lost control of her car around a curb. She was driving a 2003 silver Chevrolet.

ISP says the female driver struck the first driver (from East St. Louis) and the IDOT employee, a 52-year old man from Belleville.

Trooper Dye says both men were transported to a St. Louis area hospital with serious injuries. Their names have not been released.

The tow truck driver was uninjured.

The female driver is now cooperating with police, ISP reported. Dye said she will be cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.

ISP believes weather and speed were factors in the collision.

“Anytime we have snow or ice, at least 90 percent of crashes are clearly caused by motorists driving too fast,” Dye said.

“Motorists need to make sure they definitely give themselves enough braking time and distance and we recommend that you give yourself 2.5 to 3 car lengths of space in between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you. So if you do have to stop abruptly, you’re not going to slide off the roadway or rear end the vehicle in front of you.”