WHITE CO., Ill. - A two-vehicle incident on Interstate 64 sent a Ford Explorer off the roadway near the Little Wabash River early this morning, Wednesday, August 1.
Illinois State Police covered the accident, which occurred at 6:06 a.m. this morning.
According to the preliminary traffic crash investigation, Earl Presley, 59, of Sharps Chapel, Tenn., driving a blue 2019 International truck-tractor semi-trailer combination, was traveling in the left lane of I-64 eastbound on the Little Wabash River Bridge near mile post 124.
Mary Y. Heuglin, 69, of Louisville, Kentucky, driving a blue Ford Explorer in the right lane of I-64 eastbound; with Heuglin were passengers Andrea N. Ayres, 37; Ronald I. Heuglin, 71; and four juveniles, ages 3 through 9, all of them also from Louisville.
Heuglin was in the process of passing Presley’s vehicle when the truck-tractor entered the right lane. The front passenger side of the truck-tractor struck the rear driver side of Heuglin’s vehicle, causing the Ford Explorer to spin in front of the truck-tractor
and strike the north concrete bridge railing with the front of the vehicle. The truck-tractor then pushed the Ford Explorer approximately 100 feet down the roadway before both units came to rest near the middle of the eastbound lanes.
Heuglin and Ayres were transported by ambulance to Fairfield Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries they sustained in the crash. All parties were wearing their seatbelts or were secured in a child restraint system at the time of the crash.
Illinois State Police District 19 was assisted at the crash scene by the White County Sheriff’s Department, White County Ambulance Service, Little Wabash Fire Protection District and the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Presley was cited for Improper Lane Usage.