Southern Illinois man seriously injured in I-64 truck crash
A Marion man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 64 in Washington County Tuesday.
According to Illinois State Police, Travis Akin, 47, was injured when his 2015 GMC Yukon collided at 10:12 p.m. with a 2015 International straight truck driven by Curtis Evans, 41, of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Both vehicles were going east on I-64 at the time of the collision.
State police gave this account of what happened:
Evans’ truck left the highway to the right, over corrected and then crossed both lanes leaving the road to the left. Evans entered the median, then started to re-enter the left lane when it rolled and came to rest in the left lane on its side. Akin was unable to avoid striking Evans’ truck.
Akin was transported by ambulance to a St. Louis University Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The highway was closed for approximately three hours during the crash investigation.
According to Ryan Keith, who operates rkprsolutions which is based out of Springfield, Akin ‘’has been involved in Republican politics and with Republican candidates for the past 20 years. He helps several Republican legislators and has been doing communications this election for Jim Oberweis in his race for a congressional seat in the western suburbs of Chicago.”
Keith said the accident occurred when Akin was returning home from a business meeting in Quincy on Tuesday.
Evans, who was not injured, was cited by Illinois State Police for improper lane usage.
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 12:20 PM.
