POPE CO., Ill.—Pope County Sheriff Jerry Suits advises that a single-car traffic accident that left a vehicle in a water-filled ditch early Saturday morning in his county resulted in no apparent injuries to the driver or anyone else.
The situation was reported to Pope County authorities about 5:30 Saturday morning, November 15, 2014, when OTR truckers and others observed a vehicle in a water-filled ditch southbound alongside Illinois Route 34 three miles south of the Saline/Pope County line.
Word coming in to Disclosure that morning indicated that two individuals, both of them not wearing attire good for the inclement weather, were seen walking along 34, but those making the report were unable to determine the status of the two. So Suits, upon responding to the abandoned vehicle, called area hospitals and determined that no one had gone to the emergency rooms or had checked in with anything that could be injuries associated with the crash.
Later, it was determined that the driver was a young guy (age 16), whose father contacted Suits in order to retrieve the vehicle, which the sheriff had already pulled from the ditch.
Suits said 34 had to be shut down for about 30-40 minutes so the vehicle could be removed from the ditch; that route is heavily trafficked with coal and other trucks, and word was sent out to them by CB that there was going to be a little abruption in traffic while the vehicle was removed, and everyone cooperated nicely, Suits said.
He also said he was grateful to all those truckers who’d called in the wreck; they were able to see it from their elevated vantage point, whereas others in lower-profile vehicles (like the one Suits drives) weren’t able to see the vehicle as readily.
The mystery of who else might’ve been with the young driver has yet to be solved, however; the driver has said he didn’t have a passenger. Suits said the situation is still under investigation.
As far as can be ascertained, no citations have been issued in the crash.
Photo courtesy a reader (thanks!!)