[JHeath]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=40349.84

Man Dies In Collision
Knox resident killed in crash on slick U.S. 20.

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

KANKAKEE TOWNSHIP - A 54-year-old Knox, Ind., man was killed in a collision that disintegrated his pickup truck Wednesday along U.S. 20.

Cecil K. Sorrels apparently was returning from hunting when his vehicle slid into the path of an oncoming steelhauler on U.S. 20 about 12 miles east of Michigan City.

The victim died of multiple injuries, according to chief La Porte County Coroner Mark Huffman. Sorrells was pronounced dead at the scene.

The impact of the collision threw Sorrels from his 1995 Nissan Frontier pickup truck. The truck's frame and wheels were sitting in the eastbound lanes of U.S. 20, while the cab was ripped from the chassis and thrown some 30 feet into a neighboring yard. Small pieces of the truck were scattered over a 50-foot area of U.S. 20.

The semi involved in the accident came to rest some 200 yards away in a cornfield. It appeared to have veered off the road, went through the front yard of Livinghouse Farms, 2658 E. U.S. 20, damaging a fence and the yard. The truck continued through a narrow break in a tree line before stopping in the snowy field.

The truck, which was hauling steel, was driven by Antonio Manzo, 24, 4051 Calhoun St., Gary. The 1997 Freightliner was registered to Salomon Trucking Inc. of Hammond, Ind.

According to a La Porte County Sheriff's Depart-ment report, Manzo said he was headed west on U.S. 20 when Sorrells' truck suddenly veered in front of him. Police said there appeared to be no reason for the sudden lane change other than road conditions.

James Miller, a truck driver from Middlebury, Ind., was parked at the scene just feet from the wreckage. He said he'd been driving east on U.S. 20 when he saw Sorrels' body and wreckage in the road.

Miller said he'd stopped at a gas station at Indiana 39 and U.S. 20 just minutes before, and when he came upon the aftermath, vehicles were still driving through the scene, slowing down only to avoid hitting the body and any wreckage before driving away.

Miller said he felt compelled to stop.

"I've never seen anything like it. They were just driving right through, not even stopping," said Miller, who was thankful he'd stopped at the gas station.

"That could've been me if I hadn't. I figured I needed to stop and see what I could do, since no one else was.

"This is terrible."

The accident clean-up backed up traffic in both directions on U.S. 20 for more than an hour.

[Roger Kaputnik]

People did not stop?! I wonder if they were calling cops? Can you imagine just carefully driving through the scene and ignoring the possibility of aiding the wounded?

[Ang]

I agree. I'm thinking they didn't want to get caught in a traffic jam-every one is in such a hurry all the time.
Kudos to the truck driver who DID stop.