Freezing rain is blamed for causing multiple accidents Friday night, including one that took the life of a Centralia man on Interstate 57 in western Clinton County.
State Police say 21-year-old Maurice Currie was a rear seat passenger in a vehicle driven by 19-year-old Gavan Hooper of Mt. Vernon. Hooper and three other passengers in the car were injured and taken to Belleville Hospitals.
They are identified as 20-year-old Dwayne Moore and 22-year-old Theodosia Hooper of Mt. Vernon and 20-year-old Shantae Harris of Hammond, Indiana. All of their injuries were classified as non-life threatening.
State Police say the wreck occurred after a SUV driven by 89-year-old John Barr of Nashville left the road and struck the center median guardrail. Barr then crossed both eastbound lanes of traffic and came to rest partially in the right lane of traffic.
A vehicle driven by 71-year-old Larry Kogl of Atwood, Kansas struck the Barr vehicle in the rear as he tried to change lanes to avoid the crash. Kogl then struck the right rear of the Hooper car in the other lane as it was drastically reducing speed to try and avoid the crash.
State Police say numerous other vehicles had run off icy sections of the road in the vicinity of the crash. The freezing rain left motorists stuck for hours in traffic on Interstate 70 in parts of Fayette and Effingham Counties. Area police departments say the major highways are mostly clear of ice this morning, but secondary roads remain extremely slick and hazardous.
Untreated parking lots and sidewalks are also extremely hazardous. Interstate highways in Fayette and Effingham Counties north to the Chicago area are still reported to have scattered slippery spots. - http://goo.gl/JSB10
