Crash Near Illinois-Wisconsin Border
Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and firefighter/paramedics from Newport Fire Protection District responded about 7:15 p.m. Friday, November 13, 2020 to a report of a head-on crash crash with entrapment on West Russell Road east of Delany Road in Newport Township.
Firefighter/paramedics worked with extrication tools to free the victims from the crashed vehicles, but both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene due to major injuries.
Lake County Sheriff’s on arrival discovered a white 2006 Chevrolet Express work van and a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer with heavy front-end damage. Only the drivers occupied each vehicle.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, preliminary investigation shows the Chevrolet Express work van, driven by a 79-year-old male of Zion, was traveling eastbound on Russell Road. The Chevrolet Trailblazer, driven by a 29-year-old man of Winthrop Harbor, was traveling westbound on Russell Road. For an unknown reason, the driver of the Chevrolet Trailblazer crossed the center lines, traveled into the eastbound lanes, and struck the Chevrolet Express van head-on.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene and scheduled an autopsy for Tuesday, November 17, 2020.
The crash is under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit.
The information in this article is an early report published before any summary information was confirmed or released by police or fire authorities.
DEVELOPING IF CONTENT IS AVAILABLE …
According to Google Street View, September 2019, westbound Russell Road converts from 45 MPH to 55 MPH just before the Delany Road intersection and just before a right-hand curve that straightens at the Illinois-Wisconsin border, and continues east to just beyond Sheridan Road. There’s no known reason why the Speed Limit is not converted from 45 MPH to 55 MPH east of the curve and the two T-intersections, where the speed would be safer at 45 MPH rather than 55 MPH.
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