Good Samaritan dies when semi swerves

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - One person was killed along Interstate 465 as he stopped to help change a tire late Wednesday night.

Indiana State Police say a semitrailer swerved into the shoulder. One person was killed instantly, two others were hit by debris and sent to area hospitals in critical condition.

The accident happened just before midnight on the southeast side of Indianapolis on southbound I-465 at mile marker 48, just south of Interstate 74. Crews quickly responded by shutting down all southbound lanes and forcing traffic to exit at I-74. The lanes were reopened four hours later, at 5 a.m.

According to ISP 1st Sgt. David Bursten, a silver Pontiac had a flat tire. The female driver and her male passenger changed the tire and began to drive off. They felt as though something wasn't right with the tire, so they pulled over again. About that time, a pickup truck pulling a small trailer with a flat tire pulled in 60 feet behind them. The female driver of the Pontiac and her male passenger walked toward the Ford pickup truck. They talked with the two people in the truck about what was wrong with the car.

"As they started to walk back toward the Pontiac, a semi driving southbound swerved off the road, struck the Ford pickup with the trailer .."

The semi went on to hit the passenger of the Ford Pickup truck. he died instantly.

The driver of the pickup truck, 32 year old Gregory Lacy of Marbel Hill Georgia, and the passenger of the Pontiac, 21 year old Zachary Wright of Cicero, were taken to IU Health Methodist and Wishard Memorial hospitals in critical condition. The only person who wasn't hit was the female driver of the Pontiac. The semitrailer driver, 58 year old Paul Morris of Cincinnati, was not injured.

"Our preliminary investigation shows this was a result of driver inattention," says Bursten.

No charges were filed Thursday morning. Crash investigators found Morris had failed to keep track of the number of hours he had been driving in his logbook.
His truck was also found to have problems with the air brake connections.

When it comes to dealing with vehicles on the side of a road, Indiana does have a move over law. The law requires motorists to move over to the next lane or at least slow down if a police officer, emergency vehicle, or a utility crew is on the shoulder of a road.

"The move over law doesn't necessarily apply to the average stranded motorist but out of common courtesy and out of common sense you should move over for safety reasons" said First Sergeant Brian Olehy.

State Police recommend drivers turn flashers on and stay with their vehicle in the event of pulling onto a shoulder.

"Stay in your vehicle unless you absolutely have to get out to make a repair" says Olehy.

He says motorists with car trouble should try to exit the highway if possible. If that's not possible, pull over onto the shoulder as far as you can go. And if you see a stranded motorist but you don't feel comfortable stopping, police recommend calling 911 and reporting the stranded motorist.

"That way you have at least done something to help the situation and you haven't put yourself in harms way" said Olehy.