Truck driver ticketed after investigation into fatal I-55 crash

Posted on June 19, 2018
Illinois State Police
State police say the truck driver moved from the shoulder back into the driving lane when the crash occurred. (Photo by Arvell Dorsey Jr./flickr)

By Greg Halbleib

LEXINGTON – A state police report indicates a truck driver faces several charges after a Friday evening crash on Interstate 55 near Lexington in which a Chenoa woman died.

The report indicates a tire blew on a truck driven by Robert Harris, 41, of Hobbs, New Mexico, and he slowed down on the right shoulder. Harris reportedly moved back into the driving lane to avoid an abandoned vehicle on the shoulder when a car driven by Kaitlyn Erdman struck the rear of the semi-trailer and lodged underneath. Erdman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her infant daughter was a passenger and was treated and released.

Harris was ticketed for driving too slowly, driving with unsafe tires and passing a vehicle on the shoulder.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].

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