EFFINGHAM CO., Ill. - A two-vehicle accident between a passenger car and a Freightliner truck - both being driven by Texans - sent the carload to a nearby hospital in Effingham County.
Illinois State Police in District 12 Effingham report that the accident occurred last night (November 12) at 10:48 p.m., and tied up interstate traffic for a number of hours in the wake of it.
Preliminary investigative details indicate that the truck, a white 2019 Freightliner being driven by Ramon Lopez, 59, of Loredo, Texas, was traveling south on I-57 in Effingham County in the middle lane at milepost 158.
ISP said a 2018 GMC being driven by Christopher M. Elliott, 33, of Houston, Texas, failed to reduce speed as it approached the Freightliner. As a result, Elliott's GMC crashed into the trailer of Lopez' Freightliner.
Elliott and his passengers - Lurene Prince, 30; a 14-year-old female and a 3-month-old female, all of Houston - were transported to St. Anthony's Hospital in Effingham. Apparently Lopez and a passenger with him, Jose Lopez, 26, also of Loredo, Tex., were uninjured.
Elliott was cited for Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an Accident.