ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind — One woman died in a crash Tuesday morning near the 79.6 mile marker on the Indiana Toll Road.
Just after 11:10 a.m., troopers began to receive calls of a serious crash between an UPS semi with double trailers and a silver Toyota SUV in the westbound lanes of the Indiana Toll Road, which is approximately three miles west of the Mishawaka exit. The crash caused both westbound lanes to be closed.
Preliminary investigation indicated that a 2016 Kenworth towing double trailers was traveling westbound when the brakes on the rear trailer locked up. The Kenworth came to a stop with the rear trailer mostly in right lane. A 2019 Toyota traveling westbound in the right lane swerved to the left but struck the left rear corner of the rear trailer with the right side of the Toyota. A female in the front passenger seat of the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Toyota and the driver of the Kenworth, were not injured in the crash. There were no other passengers in the Toyota.
An inspection of the Kenworth to determine the cause of the brakes to lock will be conducted by troopers with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division.
Westbound lanes were reopened at around 2:50 p.m. after removal of the vehicles and preliminary crash investigation. Neither alcohol nor drugs are suspected to be factors in this crash.