Two transported to hospital after four vehicle crash at intersection of 49 and Indian Boundary Road

A mother and her daughter were transported to hospital Thursday evening, Jan. 2, following a four-vehicle accident at the intersection of Ind. 49 and Indian Boundary Road, the Chesterton Police Department is reporting.

According to the CPD, at 5:44 p.m. a 32-year-old Valparaiso resident driving a pickup truck was southbound in the left through-lane of Ind. 49 when he rear-ended an SUV which had stopped for a yellow light at Indian Boundary Road. He then “re-directed” his pickup into the rear of a semi-tractor trailer which was continuing through the yellow light in the right lane, leaving the pickup “completely disabled” in the intersection and facing north.

The pickup driver “was unable to or did not brake in time to prevent crashing into the rear” of the SUV, the CPD said, and was issued a citation for following too closely.

The driver of the SUV rear-ended by the pickup, a 42-year-old Michigan City resident, “sustained a facial injury and possibly neck injury” and both she and her daughter—who appeared to have escaped injury—were transported to Northwest Health-Porter. The SUV driver was issued two citations: For operating a vehicle with false or fictitious plates and for failure to maintain financial responsibility for the vehicle, the CPD said.

The semi operator escaped injury, as did the driver of the fourth vehicle, struck by debris as it was stopped at the southwest corner of the intersection and waiting to turn right onto southbound Ind. 49, the CPD said.

Chesterton firefighters also responded to the scene and, after tending to the mother and daughter, worked to clear the “large debris field of vehicle parts and personal items” scattered in the intersection.

The CPD estimated total damage to the four vehicles at $50,000 to $100,000.

Photos courtesy of the Chesterton Fire Department and the story courtesy of Town of Chesterton