Personal Injury: Serious Accident on I-65 In Indiana

A serious accident on I-65 in Indiana resulted in one person’s death and shut down the interstate for more than six hours. The incident occurred late afternoon on Sunday, January 7 near Lebanon, Indiana. Police investigators report that Theodore Engelbirth, an elderly man from Illinois, stopped his vehicle while in traffic because of an accident investigation. Tragically, a semi-truck hit Engelbirth from behind causing him to careen into bridge supports. Engelberth died, but his wife, and the semi-truck driver went to the hospital with only minor injuries. Boone County Sheriff Ken Campbell appeals to drivers to be vigilant when driving on the interstate. “You’ve got to pay attention. At interstate speed, the velocity you’re traveling a lot of feet in a few seconds, and you’ve got to be aware of that so you can get on the brakes or make an evasive maneuver if you need to.” One of the crucial strategies drivers can use to avoid causing this type of accident is to maintain a safe following distance.

Illinois Man Killed in I-65 Accident

According to Roadtrip America one rule of defensive driving is to “Create Space: Use the ‘Two-Second-Plus Rule’” In order to apply the “Two-Second-Plus Rule” you should watch as the vehicle in front of you passes an stationary object next to the road. Then you begin to count “one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two.” If you pass or arrive at the object before saying “two” then you are dangerously close to the other car. Act defensively and back off. There are also situations where the two-second rule is not enough. You should leave more space when there are adverse weather conditions, the time of day effects visibility, or even if the vehicle you are following has different characteristics than yours, such as a motorcycle, truck or RV. If drivers will be conscious of the space around their vehicle, they will be less likely to cause accidents and may save their own life, or someone else’s.