Tippecanoe County-Today at approximately 9:45 a.m. on I-65 southbound just north of the 164 mile marker (that is four miles south of the State Road 38 exit), a semi ran into the rear of a state highway truck with a crash attenuator, which is also known as a crash cushion, attached to the rear of the highway truck.
Preliminary investigation by Indiana State Trooper Mike Krueger has revealed that a yellow 2001 Sterling State Highway truck with the attenuator and arrow board attached was stationary in the right lane. There was also a second truck approximately 500 feet behind with the same setup in the emergency lane advising drivers to move over into the left lane. A red 2006 Freightliner owned by Royal Transport out of Prospect Heights, IL was driven by Matthew Kubera, 56 years old from Shelby, MI. Kubera drove by the first highway truck and then failed to change lanes and struck the attenuator and then pushed the truck into the guardrail causing front end damage to the highway truck. The Freightliner received heavy damage to the right front end and it had to be towed from the scene. The attenuator was destroyed. No load was lost from the 2005 Stoughton Trailer that was being pulled by the Freightliner.
The Sterling truck was unoccupied. Kubera was not injured. He was cited for Failure to Yield to an Authorized Emergency Vehicle and for Speed to Fast to Avoid a Collision. A seatbelt was in use at the time of the crash. Assisting at the scene were Indiana State Police Sergeant Kim Riley, Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division Master Trooper Mike Probasco and Trooper Joe Swisher and The Indiana Department of Transportation.
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All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
