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Let’s be careful out there

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Illinois

* This is the second time in a few months that the governor’s motorcade has been involved in an accident. Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt…

On Monday, the Illinois State Police reported one of the vehicles in Rauner’s security detail hit the rear of a tractor trailer during an incident on Interstate 55 in Countryside.

The governor’s vehicle was not involved in the crash. The trooper driving the vehicle that hit the truck was transported to a local hospital and has been treated and released, a state police memo noted.

Police blamed the accident on wintry road conditions.

* More…

The crash happened about 8:15 a.m., when Rauner and officers with the Illinois State Police Executive Protection Unit were heading southbound on the expressway (I-55) near LaGrange Road doing a routine movement, State Police said.

One of the tail vehicles driven by a state trooper lost control and struck the rear tandem axle of a truck tractor, according to a statement from state police. It was snowing and the roadway was slick at the time of the crash.

The trooper was taken to a local hospital and was treated and released, police said. The vehicle Rauner was traveling in was not involved in the crash.

Slow down, please.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:28 pm

Comments

Thank God the Trooper is okay. I hear Ity and I355 were a mess this morning.

Comment by Guzzlepot Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:31 pm
Right by Local 150. Hmm…

Comment by Western Ave. Doug Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:31 pm
Proving the statistics that flying is safer.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:31 pm
Thankfully no one was seriously injured.

Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:31 pm
Prayers and best wishes for a full recovery to the trooper injured.

Does anyone have information on how many vehicles are in the Governor’s entourage?

John

Comment by John Boch Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:33 pm
Maybe we should reallocate some of that motorcycle training money to Executive Security detail driver training. (s/)

Comment by Norseman Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:36 pm
Agree with Flaherty. If he’d have been in the state plane, this wouldn’t have happened.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:42 pm
You know, if Rauner was in Springfield legislatin’ instead of runnin’ around speechifin’ …

Seriously, glad no one was seriously injured.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:42 pm
My apologies for the snarky comment. I scanned the post and missed the part about the trooper being injured. I have great respect for our State Police officers and wish the trooper a speedy recovery for his injuries.

Comment by Norseman Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:43 pm
What is Brucie’s position on Global Climate Change?

Comment by D.P.Gumby Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:47 pm
Quinn got driven around by one of his aides for 6 years and never got in an accident. Rauner should take a page out of the former Governor’s playbook and get Quinnochio as his new driver.

Comment by Anon Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:47 pm
Since no one was seriously hurt…This reads like every other Rauner story. There’s a crash, the unionized employee gets injured, and the Governor is doing something other than working on the budget. The only thing missing is a statement about how “employee empowerment zones” would have helped the situation.

Comment by AC Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 12:55 pm
anon, Quinn was the accident.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 1:04 pm
All I want to know - was he driving his old van?

Comment by Dr X Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 1:16 pm
That’s what happens when you cut IDOT’s seasonal plow drivers by half with a full 3 weeks left in snow and ice season. Hopefully there are no more serious accidents today.

Comment by Man with a plan Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 1:26 pm
Glad no one was hurt. But I can’t help but notice that no one was cited and the cops are calling this an accident. They never call it an accident when civilians are involved. It is always a “crash,” with the rationale being that someone is always at fault, no matter what. In this case, the cop hit the back of a truck. Sounds like a “speed too fast for conditions” ticket, which is what they issue to civilians who rear-end other vehicles, no matter what the weather conditions. “But it was snowy and icy, officer!” “Ma’am, you should have allowed for that and left more distance between yourself and other cars.” That’s what they say when it’s not a cop, and if a cop had been hit from behind, you’d better believe the other driver would have gotten a ticket, even if it happened in a blizzard.

Comment by Barney Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:21 pm
If the detail is using the same cars as Quinn’s guys - they really need to switch them out. The former detail was stuck with the old Ford cruisers that were horrible in the snow since Quinn wouldn’t let them use the newer foreign-made vehicles. Those guys are well trained and great, but when you have old rear-wheel-drive vehicles that have 150k miles on them, combined with the tricky maneuvers the tail vehicle needs to utilize, you have a recipe for incidents like this. Glad the trooper is ok. These guys really need to be authorized to use four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Comment by LCD Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:33 pm
It was nasty out there this morning. A car slid across the center line and hit an oncoming truck right in front of me. Terrifying.

Of course, I drive at a brisk 15 mph in these conditions, so I had plenty of room to stop…

Comment by Soccermom Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:54 pm
The second of many, many, many wrecks in this administration.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:09 pm
The cranky old man in me is convinced that no one knows how to drive in the snow anymore. Except me. And get out of my yard!

Kris Bryant hits two more monster bombs over the weekend in AZ and here it is, after St. Pats, and I’m pushing Big-Gripper heavy stuff off the sidewalk so the kids can get back and forth from school.

Yo, Tom and Theo, don’t peddle that “baseball decision” my way when it comes to Bryant. Bring the Big Man north and put your best team on the field for the opener against the Cards.

Dont care about “service time” and the “future.” For crying out loud, you havent won since the Kaiser was a kid.

Give the fans something after all this time. It’s already embarrassing. You’re going to open with your outfield looking looking like Nagasaki (seriously, how hard is it to build bleachers? you’ve had six months).

Comment by Wordslinger Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:32 pm
I have to agree with Barney, anybody else would have been ticketed and fined.

Comment by Ugly Rumours Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 6:00 pm
Crash review board will handle it. If found preventable the day off will hurt worse than a traffic ticket. There are internal disciplinary procedures in place when an isp officer crashes a car.

Comment by Anon Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 7:16 pm
AND WE KNOW THE PLANE WAS FULLY BUDGETED unlike those ventilator kids.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 7:43 pm
I expected the Rauner administration to be a trainwreck, not a car crash.

Comment by Anon Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 7:57 pm