25-Year-Old Woman Dies in I-55 Collision with Tractor-Trailer

MCLEAN COUNTY, IL – As reported by wglt.org, a 25-year-old woman from Chenoa, Illinois, was killed June 15 in a collision with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 55.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. on June 15, 25-year-old Kaitlyn Erdman, of Chenoa, was driving southbound on Interstate 55 in McLean County, Illinois. According to the McLean County Coroner, Erdman struck a tractor-trailer at mile marker 177, near Lexington. Erdman reportedly died from head injuries suffered during the collision.

The McLean County Coroner noted that Erdman’s infant daughter was in the vehicle at the time of the crash. She was treated at a nearby hospital for minor injuries and later released. It does not appear the driver of the tractor-trailer was injured in the collision. A 17-year-old female passenger in the truck was transported to a local hospital with unknown injuries.

A later report from herald-review.com states that the driver of the tractor-trailer, Robert Lee Fred Harris, 41, of Hobbs, New Mexico, has now been cited for multiple violations in connection with the crash. The citations include violation of minimum speed regulations, passing a vehicle on the shoulder, and driving with unsafe tires.

The Herald&Review story indicates Hobbs experienced a blown tire on I-55 South and attempted to pull onto the right shoulder of the interstate. At the last second, Hobbs realized there was an abandoned vehicle on the shoulder, and he moved back into the right lane of the interstate at a low rate of speed. Erdman, who was driving her 2016 Dodge Charger in the right lane, rear-ended Hobbs’s tractor-trailer. The Dodge reportedly became lodged under the truck, and Erdman died at the scene.

Erdman was reportedly in her third year of nursing school at Unity Point Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois. She worked as an OB tech at OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, Illinois, and recently won a McLean County Women of Distinction WINGS Award from the YWCA.

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