Two Men Dead after Head-On Collision on Tri-State Tollway

September 13, 2010 - Cook County, IL - Two men have died following a head-on collision on the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 80/294) early Sunday morning.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the car crash occurred at around 3 a.m. Sunday morning on the Tri-State Tollway close to south suburban East Hazel Crest. A man was driving his vehicle at a high rate of speed in the wrong direction on the Tollway, which led to the head-on collision.

As the man was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of traffic, a vehicle driven by another man approached while driving in the proper direction. The two vehicles collided head-on close to mile marker 4¾, near the Indiana state line.

The Illinois State Police Tollway District stated that the man who had been driving legally was pronounced dead on the scene. The second man, the one who had been driving in the wrong direction, was transported to Advocate South Suburban Hospital immediately following the car crash. An official from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office stated that the man later died in the hospital.

Speed was definitely a factor in the crash; the vehicle going in the wrong direction was driving at around 90 miles per hour at the time of the accident. However, it is currently unknown whether or not drugs and alcohol were a factor. The accident remains under investigation.