Northbound traffic on the Stevenson Expressway was shut down for nearly four hours Monday morning, as police and firefighters worked for an hour to extract a critically injured woman from her crashed Saturn coupe near Indian Head Park.
About 8:50 a.m., the compact Saturn coupe was hit from behind by a UPS truck, forcing the car into another 18-wheel truck in front of it. The accident shut down the northbound lanes from about 9 a.m. until 12:45 p.m., said Sgt. Richard Martinez of the Illinois State Police.
All traffic not exiting before Joliet Road near Indian Head Park was forced off there, said a dispatcher with the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Allison Lester, 24, remained in critical condition Monday night with head and chest injuries and possible fractures, said Michael Maggio, media relations director for Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. Officials did not release her hometown.
According to state police officials, Lester was hit when the driver of the rear truck failed to slow down in time.
“The driver of the UPS truck failed to stop when traffic ahead of him did. He attempted to swerve left and hit the compact car instead,” Martinez said. Upon initial police questioning, the driver of the truck said he could not recall if he hit the brakes, but he did remember swerving, Martinez said.
Lester’s car began knocking back and forth between both trucks until it slid into the median near the Joliet Road exit, said Pleasant View Fire Protection Division Battalion Chief Richard Lange.
“We had to remove the roof, the driver’s side door and seat, the hood, and the front window because all of that was surrounding her,” Lange said. Additionally, the steering wheel and column had to be pulled up because it was “pinned to her chest.”
There were no other passengers in Lester’s car and neither truck driver sustained any injuries, said police and rescue officials.
After paramedics removed the victim, she was airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center.
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and this is probably one of the top three worst accidents I’ve ever seen,” Lange said.
