Police say a 24-year-old woman has died after she lost control of her car and crashed head-on into a semi-tractor trailer truck on Route 45 in Mundelein Tuesday morning.
The Mundelein Police Department and Mundelein Fire Department responded around 1:05 a.m. Tuesday to the area of Route 45 south of University Drive for calls of a semi-truck and car crash.
Mundelein Police Chief Jason Seeley said officers arrived to find a 24-year-old woman inside an Acura sedan with severe injuries.
Firefighters had to extricate the woman from her vehicle due to the heavy damage, fire officials said.
Paramedics transported her in critical condition to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where she died from her injuries, Seeley said.
The driver of a semi-tractor trailer truck, a 44-year-old man, was also transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Fire officials said the two drivers were the sole occupants of their vehicles.
Seeley said the semi-truck driver told police that the Acura was traveling southbound on Route 45 as he traveled northbound on Route 45.
The Acura lost control, crossed over the center median and struck the semi-truck head-on, according to the driver.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) was called to the scene and began an investigation.
Preliminary findings showed that speed may have been a factor in the Acura losing control and crossing the median, Seeley said.
The 44-year-old man driving the semi-truck is cooperative with investigators and there is no indication that he was impaired.
Toxicology results are pending on both drivers involved in the crash.
Seeley said the semi-trailer, which was fully loaded, had to have its cargo transferred to another semi-trailer.
The northbound and southbound lanes of Route 45 were shut down for several hours from University Drive to Route 176, the police department reported.
Ernie’s Wrecker Service responded to clean up the debris and remove both vehicles. Police reported the roadway reopened around 8 a.m.
An autopsy is being scheduled on the female victim by the Lake County Coroner’s Office and her identity is temporarily being withheld.
The crash remains under investigation by the Mundelein Police Department and MCAT.