An elderly woman misjudged the distance of an approaching semi-truck while making a turn and crashed into it, leaving her injured and shutting down part of Grand Avenue for over an hour in Gurnee Wednesday afternoon.
The Gurnee Police Department and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 2 p.m. Wednesday to Grand Avenue and Route 21 in Gurnee for a vehicle crash with injuries.
Police officers and firefighter/paramedics arrived and found a semi-truck and a Toyota Camry sedan involved in the crash.
Gurnee Police Department Public Information Officer Shawn Gaylor said the semi-truck was traveling northbound on Route 21 approaching Grand Avenue.
The Toyota, driven by an 80-year-old Gurnee woman, was traveling southbound on Route 21 and attempted to make a left turn onto eastbound Grand Avenue.
“The driver of the Toyota misjudged the distance of the approaching semi-truck and collided with the truck within the intersection,” Gaylor said.
Video taken from a bystander showed multiple people coming to the woman’s aid before emergency crews arrived.
The Toyota’s airbags were deployed and the woman was still inside the car.
“You okay? Can you unlock it for me?” a Good Samaritan is heard asking the woman.
“It’s alright, if you can’t unlock it just stay right here and don’t move. I’m going to call 911, alright?” the Good Samaritan said.
The occupants of the semi-truck appeared to have been able to get out of the truck from the passenger side.
Paramedics transported the woman to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with non-life-threatening injuries.
Five other people refused to be transported to the hospital.
The crash left both vehicles with front-end damage and fluid leaking onto the roadway.
The westbound lanes of Grand Avenue were shut down just east of Route 21 while emergency and tow truck crews worked the scene.
A heavy wrecker was brought in to remove the semi-truck.
Both vehicles were eventually towed, and westbound Grand Avenue was reopened at around 3:20 p.m.