Investigators say a 36-year-old man died after his pickup truck veered into oncoming traffic and struck a dump truck head-on, causing both vehicles to roll over, near Lake Bluff Saturday morning.
The Libertyville Fire Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 9:25 a.m. Saturday to Waukegan Road and Muir Avenue in unincorporated Lake Bluff for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said sheriff’s deputies arrived and found a 2004 Mack semi-truck and a 2010 Toyota Tacoma involved in the crash.
The semi-truck, driven by a 21-year-old Round Lake Beach man, was hauling a loaded dump trailer.
A preliminary investigation showed the Mack was traveling northbound on Waukegan Road, Covelli said.
A 2010 Toyota Tacoma, driven by a 36-year-old Wadsworth man, was traveling southbound on Waukegan Road.
The Toyota drifted into the northbound lanes of traffic for unknown reasons, Covelli said.
The driver of the Mack was unable to avoid the collision and the two vehicles collided head-on.
Libertyville Deputy Fire Chief Steven Holtz said firefighters arrived to find the semi-truck had rolled over and the pickup truck was also rolled over.
The crash occurred south of the intersection and left the pickup truck heavily damaged, Holtz said.
The material being hauled in the semi-truck’s dump trailer spilled onto the roadway when the truck rolled over.
Firefighters found the 36-year-old driver trapped inside the Toyota and needed to be extricated.
The call was upgraded for additional crews to the scene to assist with the extrication, Holtz said. The Lake Forest, Lake Bluff and North Chicago fire departments responded.
Covelli said the driver of the pickup truck had suffered major injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the semi-truck was uninjured and declined transport to the hospital.
Waukegan Road remained shut down for hours into Saturday afternoon for a crash investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning on the deceased victim, whose identity is being withheld pending notification to their next of kin.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.