A semi truck failed to slow for stopped traffic on Interstate 29 near Crescent, Iowa, Sunday afternoon, slamming into four vehicles before coming to rest in the east ditch. Multiple people were sent to area hospitals as a result, and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office says it is still investigating what led up to the pileup.
According to WOWT, deputies and multiple emergency response units were dispatched to I-29 shortly before 2:15 p.m. Sunday. Troopers arriving on scene found a semi truck involved in a crash with four other vehicles, and the outlet reports that traffic had already been stopped before a lane closure and merge point tied to an earlier, separate collision.
Backed-Up Traffic Set the Stage
The left travel lane of I-29 had been closed because of that earlier collision, according to the same report, which left vehicles stacked up near Crescent while drivers waited for the lane to reopen. It was into this stopped traffic that the semi truck failed to slow down, ultimately hitting four vehicles before it came to rest in the east ditch alongside the interstate.
The braking challenge for a tractor-trailer differs from that of a passenger car: the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says a loaded tractor-trailer traveling at 55 mph needs an average of 196 feet to stop in ideal conditions, compared with 133 feet for a passenger vehicle. The agency advises commercial drivers to leave enough following distance to respond to unexpected traffic changes; it also notes that weather and road conditions can lengthen braking distance. Those general safety factors do not establish the cause of the Crescent crash, which remains under investigation. FMCSA’s guidance on truck following distance.
The scope of the response reflects how serious the scene appeared to responders. Units from the Iowa State Patrol, Crescent Fire and Rescue, Lewis Township Fire and Rescue, Missouri Valley Fire and Rescue, and the Council Bluffs Fire Department all responded to the crash, per the station's report.
Investigation Continues
A 2024 crash near Kenly, North Carolina, shows how a traffic queue and lane closure can figure in a separate multivehicle truck collision. The National Transportation Safety Board found that a truck driver failed to respond to slow-moving traffic approaching a temporary work zone on I-95; the crash involved four vehicles and killed five people. The NTSB cited the striking truck’s speed, weight and bumper height as factors that worsened the consequences. Investigators have not established those circumstances in the I-29 crash. The NTSB’s Kenly crash findings.
The Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office said it is still investigating the incident, and authorities have not released additional details beyond the sequence of events already confirmed. Anyone with information about the crash is encouraged to contact Sergeant Aaron Soucie at 712-890-2283 or Sergeant Tony Leick at 712-890-2288.
This is not the first time this stretch of interstate near Council Bluffs has seen a serious crash this year. A separate crash closed a portion of northbound I-29 at 25th Street in Council Bluffs for an injury accident, with police at the time expecting the closure to last several hours and urging drivers to use an alternate route, the same outlet reported.
