A truck driver lost his life on I-94 in LaPorte County, Indiana, today when he crashed into a detached trailer on the interstate.
The crash happened just before 3 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-94 near Exit 40.
No Emergency Triangles Placed For Detached Trailer, Say Police
Here’s how the Indiana State Police (ISP) describe the crash:
“A semi pulling two trailers for R L Carriers out of Wilmington, Ohio, and being driven by a thirty-seven year old man from Heartland, Wisconsin, had just got onto I-94 west bound from exit 40 (this is the US20/US 35 ramp) in La Porte when one of his trailers became detached. The trailer, a 2016 Great Dane, loaded with wood flooring and general freight came to rest on the outer shoulder but the left rear of the trailer was partially in the right lane of I-94. The driver was able to pull his tractor and front trailer off on the outer shoulder and were not involved in the crash
A 2007 Volvo pulling a box trailer was west bound in the right lane when he hit the rear of the detached trailer. This caused the cab from the Volvo to come off the tractor frame and the detached trailer roll over onto its left side. The Great Dane trailer split open and its contents were strewn across parts of the interstate. The tractor frame and its trailer remained upright and no load was lost from its trailer.”
The Volvo driver, later identified as 53 year old Wisconsin-based trucker David C. Sturgis, died at the scene from blunt force trauma.
ISP says that there were “purportedly” no warning triangles placed for the detached trailer.
ISP says that Sturgis drove for Dalli Trucking Incorporated.