A driver heading the wrong way slammed head-on into another vehicle in the northbound lanes of Interstate 65 near Ridge Road early Monday, seriously injuring at least two people and shutting down the highway for hours in northwest Indiana.
One of the injured people was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, while another was transported to Franciscan Health in Crown Point, according to ABC7 Chicago. The outlet reported that the wrong-way car collided with at least one other vehicle near Ridge Road at about 1 a.m., though a separate account from Cedar News placed the crash around 2 a.m., describing the location as south of Ridge Road and north of 61st Avenue near Hobart. The discrepancy in timing has not been resolved.
Highway Closed for Hours During Investigation
Northbound I-65 was shut down for hours while crews worked the scene, according to the same ABC7 Chicago report. The highway has since reopened to traffic, though Indiana State Police have not released additional details about the identities or conditions of the two people hurt, per the station's account.
Beyond confirming that at least two people — one in each vehicle — were seriously injured, police did not provide further information, the report noted. The cause of the driver entering the highway traveling the wrong way has not been disclosed.
Pattern of Wrong-Way Wrecks on the Same Stretch
Monday's crash is not the first serious wrong-way collision to strike this corridor of I-65 in Lake County. In February, a wrong-way driver traveling southbound in the northbound lanes struck another car head-on near 61st Avenue, killing 20-year-old Hobart woman Rylee Hanson, according to the Chicago Tribune. In that case, the 29-year-old Hebron driver going the wrong way was listed in critical condition after being extricated by Hobart firefighters and airlifted to a Chicago hospital, and state troopers' observations of her led investigators to believe she was impaired, police said. That investigation remained ongoing as of late February, pending further review and consultation with the Lake County Prosecutor's Office.
Wrong-way crashes have proven deadly elsewhere on the same interstate this year. In August, a wrong-way driver caused a crash near Seymour that killed two adults and a 1-year-old boy, Indiana State Police said, according to WISH-TV. Investigators believed alcohol consumed by the wrong-way driver likely played a role, though toxicology results were still pending at the time, and all southbound lanes near Seymour were closed for about four hours during the investigation and cleanup.
As is standard with a developing story, further details are expected to come as the investigation continues.
