Lake County- This morning at approximately 3:08 a.m., dispatchers at the Indiana Toll Road Post began to receive 911 calls of a wrong way driver on I-80/90, also known as the Indiana Toll Road. As troopers were being dispatched and responding to the area, another 911 caller reported a head-on crash near the 5 mile-marker involving the wrong way driver. This location is 5 miles east of the Indiana/Illinois state line.
Preliminary investigation by Trooper Lecil Martin revealed that a blue 2014 Nissan Versa was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-90. The vehicle struck a silver 2019 Honda HR-V head-on. The female driver of the Nissan was declared deceased at the scene by the Lake County Coroner. The driver of the Honda was flown to the University of Chicago Hospital via UCAN with potential life-threatening injuries.
Identification of the deceased will be made by the Lake County Coroner’s Office as well as notification of next of kin. Alcohol and or drugs are believed to be a factor in this crash.
The westbound lanes of the Indiana Toll Road were closed for approximately four hours for the investigation. Assisting at the scene were the following: Indiana State Police Crash Reconstruction Team, Hammond Police Department, Hammond Fire Department, Herrera’s Towing, UCAN, and Toll Road Maintenance.