CHESTERTON, Ind. — A motorist was injured Wednesday, May 15, in a four-vehicle chain-reaction crash on State Road 49, the Chesterton Fire Department is reporting.
Just before 7 p.m. a 31-year-old Chesterton resident was southbound on State Road 49 when, approximately 500 feet north of the intersection with East Porter Ave., his white pickup truck clipped the rear of a second vehicle, a red pickup driven by an 18-year-old Valparaiso resident.
The Chesterton resident in his white pickup then continued southbound, rear-ending a white SUV driven by a 51-year-old Valparaiso resident, and the impact of that collision forced the SUV into the rear of a tan pickup driven by a 20-year-old Valparaiso resident, the Chesterton Police Department said.
The Chesterton resident driving the white pickup—who complained of pain to his left arm and stated that it might be broken—advised that as he was cresting the hill “he noticed that traffic was not moving, so he attempted to slow down,” police said. After colliding with the red pickup, he “did not remember what happened next.”
A “witness advised all vehicles were in the right lane and that the white SUV and red truck were either stopped or coming to a stop,” the CPD said. “The witness explained that the white truck came over the hill fast and at the last second swerved to avoid the red truck. However, it still made contact with the red truck and the white SUV.”
Police estimated total damage to the four vehicles at up to $100,000.