Alcohol May Be Involved in Wrong-Way I-294 Accident

December 20, 2010 - Police are investigating to determine if alcohol played a role in a wrong-way crash that injured one man and shut down the southbound lanes of Interstate 294 for several hours. According to a report at the Chicago Breaking News Center, an unidentified person was driving a Cadillac sedan northbound in the southbound lanes of I-294 shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday night.

The Cadillac avoided several vehicles before crashing into a semi-truck that was driving southbound near South Holland. The driver of the Cadillac suffered serious personal injuries and was taken by ambulance to an unnamed hospital for treatment. Although the injuries are serious, police believe that the driver will survive. The victim's identity has not yet been released. The driver of the semi-truck was unharmed.

Investigators are not sure why the driver got on the freeway headed in the wrong direction, but toxicology tests will determine if he or she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The local police department received a number of calls in the moments before the crash reporting a wrong-way driver on Interstate 294.