Winter road conditions likely the cause of multiple weekend crashes

By Gary Scott on December 26, 2017 at 7:17am

While west central Illinois got to enjoy a white Christmas this past weekend, the snowfall and below-freezing temperatures may have caused multiple vehicle crashes.

Here at WLDS/WEAI, we received right around 1.5 inches of snowfall between late Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. And while the majority of main roads were cleared off rather quickly, temperatures remained below freezing, causing certain areas of less busy roadways to remain very slick.

While there were multiple crashes reported over the weekend, Illinois State Police are only releasing information regarding one of the accidents. The crash was reported to have occurred at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Illinois Route 29 in Menard County, near Sweetwater and Hagney Avenue. According to the Illinois State Police, 22-year old Alexandria Abbott, of Abingdon, was traveling west on Sweetwater Avenue in a 2007 Cadillac Sedan. At the same time, 45-year old Angela Haynes, of Mason City, was traveling north on Illinois Route 29 in a 2005 Toyota four-door.

Preliminary reports indicate that Abbott’s Cadillac failed to yield to Haynes’ Toyota and pulled out directly in front of it before striking the rear of the vehicle. At this point, Abbott’s Cadillac was pushed off the road into the right-side ditch, while Haynes’ Toyota continued forward before coming to a rest in the left ditch, partially submerged in s small pond.

As a result of the crash, preliminary reports say that Abbott was transported to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries.