A Demotte man was
injured Wednesday after losing control of his car on I-65 while trying to
pass a semi on the right, the Indiana State Police said.
According to
police, at 5:50 p.m. Nathan Ruddach, 20, of Demotte, was northbound on I-65,
four miles south of the Demotte exit, and traveling in the left lane behind
a semi which was passing slower traffic in the right lane.
Ruddach became
“impatient,” police said, and before the trucker could return to the right
lane he made a move to the right himself to pass. Ruddach had nearly cleared
the semi when he attempted to get back into the left lane but “cut over too
soon,” police said, the rear of his 2002 Honda CRV clipping the tractor’s
right front corner.
The impact caused
Ruddach’s Honda to fishtail and he over-corrected, lost control, and while
spinning out hit the semi’s trailer, police said. The Honda then began
rolling, only to strike a second semi.
Ruddach sustained
non-life threatening injuries and was airlifted to Christ Advocate Hospital
in Oak Lawn, Ill.
“If Ruddach had not
been wearing his seat belt he may have been ejected from his vehicle,”
Trooper Corey Dupuy said. “Luckily, for everyone because he was using his
seat belt his injuries were much less than they could have been.”
The driver of the
first semi hit by Ruddach was Anthony Orndorff, 29, of Hammond; the driver
of the second, David Simon, 53, of Stanton, Mich. Neither trucker was
injured, police said.
The northbound
lanes of I-65 were closed until 7:06 p.m.