A 46-year-old Indianapolis man died Monday afternoon after stepping out of his parked box truck and into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer on westbound Interstate 70 near Cloverdale. Jose Efrain Serrano Serrano was pronounced dead at the scene following the 2:50 p.m. crash, according to investigators.
Serrano had parked his 2000 Chevrolet box truck on the right fog line of westbound I-70 near mile marker 40 before exiting into the path of a 2024 Volvo semi-trailer truck, according to an Indiana State Police investigation. State police had been called to the scene near U.S. 231 after receiving a report of a pedestrian struck, as first reported by WRTV.
The Putnam County Coroner's Office officially identified the victim as Jose Efrain Serrano Serrano of Indianapolis, confirming he was pronounced dead at the scene, per WTHR. The semi-trailer driver pulled over immediately after the crash and is cooperating with the investigation, and Serrano's family has since been notified of his death, according to police. The westbound right lane of I-70 was shut down for several hours as crews worked the scene.
Multiple Agencies Respond in Rural Putnam County
Local emergency agencies assisting state troopers at the crash site included Putnam County Sheriff's deputies and the Putnam County Coroner's Office, the state police report notes. The response reflects the multi-agency coordination typical for a fatal interstate closure in this stretch of rural west-central Indiana.
The Indiana State Police Putnamville Post, also known as District 53, was identified in past reporting from WTHR. State police said they would not be releasing further information at this time.
A Corridor Thick With Commercial Freight
Commercial heavy trucks account for approximately 28% of total traffic volume along rural sections of the Interstate 70 corridor across the states discussed, making it one of the most heavily traveled freight corridors in the Midwest, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
That density compounds the danger for anyone who steps out of a stopped vehicle. Stepping onto active travel lanes from a stopped vehicle on a high-speed, multi-lane freeway creates a dangerous situation. Nationally, 7,080 pedestrians were killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2024, and 73% of those fatal collisions happened at non-intersection locations such as open roadways and highway shoulders, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Indiana's Move Over Law and a Recurring Hazard
Indiana's Move Over or Slow Down law, amended effective July 1, 2023, requires drivers to change lanes or reduce speed to at least 10 mph below the posted limit when approaching any disabled vehicle with activated hazard lights on the shoulder, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation. The update expanded a statute that previously applied mainly to emergency vehicles, though high speeds and sudden pedestrian movement into travel lanes still leave commercial drivers little time to react.
This is not the first time this stretch of I-70 has proven deadly. Indiana State Police Putnamville Post troopers investigated a similar fatality on June 27, 2024, on westbound I-70 near mile marker 22 in Clay County, where a person in the driving lane was struck by a semi whose driver also stopped immediately and cooperated. A separate fatal crash occurred near I-70 mile marker 38 in Putnam County in December 2019, when a vehicle crashed into an emergency vehicle parked on the shoulder, according to Wikipedia.
The Cloverdale fatality also comes just a day after Hoodline reported on a second fatality in six days involving a pedestrian stepping into an active I-70 lane and being struck by a semi-truck, underscoring the recurring danger along this corridor for anyone who leaves a stopped vehicle on the shoulder.
