An SUV driver has been cited after video captured him causing a crash in Barrington that left a semi-truck rolled over, trapping and seriously injuring the driver, who was flown to the hospital.
The Barrington Fire Department and Barrington Police Department responded around 2:35 p.m. on October 8 to Barrington Road and Dundee Road in Barrington for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries.
Barrington Police Chief David Daigle said the crash involved a 2016 Acura MDX and a 1998 Western Star 5900 semi-truck, which was hauling a dump trailer.
Both vehicles sustained significant damage.
A dashcam video obtained by Lake and McHenry County Scanner showed the semi-truck was traveling eastbound on Dundee Road.
The semi-truck proceeded through the intersection at Barrington Road on a solid green light, the video showed.
The Acura was traveling northbound on Barrington Road attempting to turn right onto eastbound Dundee Road.
The driver of the Acura failed to come to a complete stop and pulled out directly in front of the semi-truck, the video showed.
The semi-truck struck the driver’s side of the Acura and rolled over onto its roof after traveling off the roadway to the south.
The impact caused the Acura to spin so that the back left corner of the vehicle struck the semi-truck again before the Acura was forced off the roadway to the south, up an embankment and into a telecommunications box, Daigle said.
Firefighters found the driver of the semi-truck, a 55-year-old North Chicago man, still inside the cab.
He was heavily entrapped inside and suffering from apparent serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Firefighters worked for an hour and a half to extricate him from the truck, Daigle said.
A landing zone was established nearby at Ron Beese Park at Cornell Avenue and Rotary Drive.
A LifeNet medical helicopter landed in the soccer field at the park and waited for approximately 20 minutes until the fire department had finally extricated the man.
He was transported by ambulance to the landing zone and transferred to the flight crew.
The helicopter flew the victim to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
Daigle said the driver of the Acura was transported by ambulance to Endeavor Health Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.
The crash resulted in extremely heavy traffic delays on Barrington Road and Dundee Road in the vicinity of the scene.
Officers completely shut down the intersection for the crash investigation.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) responded to conduct the investigation and reconstruction.
Barrington Road was reopened around 8:15 p.m. as eastbound Dundee Road remained shut down, village officials said.
Ernie’s Wrecker Service responded with a heavy wrecker to upright and remove the dump truck and clean up spilled rock from the trailer.
Village officials said around 7:15 a.m. the following day that all roads had been reopened.
The driver of the Acura, James D. Schmit, 84, of Venice, Florida, was cited for disobeying a red traffic signal and failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.
Schmit is scheduled to appear for an initial court hearing on November 18.