On Sunday, a semi-truck accident caused the deaths of three people and injury of over a dozen others after a trucker plowed into a slow traffic Interstate in Indiana. According to police officials, the truck driver had looked down to set his coffee mug when the crash occurred.
According to FOX News, the office of the Boone County Sheriff reports that the crash occurred just after 11:00 a.m. in the northbound lanes of Interstate 65 in Whitestown. The officials report that the main accident involved the semi-truck and other eight vehicles.
Two young women and a child, 1, reportedly lost their lives in the tragic accident.
The driver of the semi-truck, Matthew Lewis Small, 34, was driving northbound on Interstate 65 when he approached slowing traffic. He reportedly took his eyes of the road as he set his coffee mug down when his truck slammed into the slowed traffic.
Immediately, a fire broke out, engulfing a car the truck had pinned against the guardrail. The three people in the car died. These three persons were Mariah Tomey, 21, Hadley Tomey, 1, and Kaylee Kirk 19. They were all from Lebanon, Indiana.
Another vehicle was pushed over the guardrail, landing on its side. The two people in the vehicle were successfully extricated from the overturned vehicle by responders.
Over a dozen people were transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital with various injuries; fortunately, none were considered life-threatening.
Officials report that another set of six vehicles also sustained severe damages from the crash. Investigators closed I-65 for almost four hours as a result of the investigation.
After a preliminary investigation, the distracted driver, Small, was charged with three counts of reckless homicide.
The Boone County Sheriff, Mike Nielsen, stated that distracted driving remains one of the leading causes of public roadways accidents. Nielsen reports that he believed the factor mentioned above was the root cause of this fatal crash.
According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, culprits of crashes due to distracted driving are subject to legal repercussions. High Sheriff Nielsen recommends the following to avoid distracted driving crashes:
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2017:
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