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A rollover accident on Interstate 55 involving two vehicles Thursday afternoon left four people injured and the southbound lanes blocked for about 45 minutes.
According to Sgt. Kevin Orr of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, the accident occurred around 2 p.m. at mile marker 95 when a 2009 Kia Rio driven by Sheila K. Mercer, 50, of Chaffee, Mo., was attempting to pull from the shoulder onto the roadway.
As the Rio was crossing from the right to the left lane, a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Lori A. Gore, 44, of East Prairie, Mo., ran into the back of the vehicle. The Rio spun around and crossed into a cable barrier. The Ram then spun and overturned.
Gore and the two passengers traveling inside the Ram were not wearing their seat belt while Mercer was wearing her seat belt. Two people involved in the accident were released from the hospital Thursday while the status of the other two people was unknown.
Mercer received a citation for allegedly moving a motor vehicle without reasonable safety.
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You often see people do that. Just pull right into the lane. Please people accelerate on the shoulder and merge into traffic!!
There have been more rollover accidents on I-55 since those cables have been installed. I wonder if there are any statistics on this information prior to installation and then after installation?
AVictom
you might want to reread the article. According to the article the Kia Rio hit the cable and spun around. (Hopefully the cable prevented the car from crossing the median and hitting another vehicle head on)
The article DOES NOT say the Ram, which did overturn, hit the cable.
So i am not sure what your point is connecting the cable to overturned vehicles.
AVictom,
Please state where you found the data showing an increase in rollover accidents on I-55 since the guardcable has been installed.
I'm curious ... I would like to review these statistics for myself ...
Sounds like Mercer needs her license revoked for the safety of others. Merging from the right shoulder across the driving lane into the left lane is just plain stupid. I hope everyone recovers fully because this wreck could have easily been fatal because of one poor judjement.
it cause so many people dont know how to drive
if they reread the drivers manual they might learn something like the meaning of merge...
I would like to know the reasoning for crowding the cables against southbound I-55. They are very unforgiving of anyone who, for whatever reason drifts into, or is forced onto the left shoulder grass.
West of St. Louis on I70 there is room to slow and most likely recover from the situation. I speak from experience. If I had hit the I55 cables it would have wiped out the left side of my vehicle. As it was, on I-70, I had no damage and was blessed to be able to just drive on to my destination. Was this location just for the convenience of the mowers? I have heard other Cape residents question the safety of the location, also.
I bet if you were headed northbound at the time of the accident and it was happening in front of you, you would be thanking God for those barriers! I check out the MSHP accident reports from time to time and cars crossing the median into oncoming traffic happens quite often...
Mimiks: The reason for the placement of the cables where they are is because a fiber optic cable runs down the middle of the median.
I thought someone should know what really happened. I happened to be getting on the 25 after leaving target and the white car was in front of me in the slow lane with her right turn signle on, but stopped then the car started going to the right but about 5 miles per hour, the sort of speed a car would go if you were just coasting without your foot on the gas pedel. It scared me to death, there was a deasel truct bearing down on us and her back end was still in the lane, so I had to pull up next to her only to the right of her to keep from being hit. By the time the truck went past all of her car was of the road, so I backed up & was going past her when she started drifting back into the roadway, so I punched it and just barely got past her but saw her face, it was as if she was in a trance but with her eyes open, it looked like she was totaly out of it. At the same time I saw her just go accross the highway lanes and everyone dodging her right and left, when the last truck dodged her the one right behind her was right on her and probably never saw her because of the truck in front of them swerving past her, then it hit her. She was actuly going straight accross the lanes at no more than 5 miles per hour. I was just in front of them and saw it all in my rear view mirror. I did not stop because all the ones behind me did. So glad all were not killed! I sure thank God that I was able to get past her and I didn't get hit.
We learned from a DOT Supervisor that the cable is placed where it is to eliminate mowing problems.