No serious injuries as mass return of students produces 13 accidents
ASHKUM -- Illinois State Police say the mass return of students on Sunday following the Thanksgiving holiday produced more than a dozen accidents on Interstate 57 north of Champaign County.
No one was hurt badly enough to be taken to the hospital, said Master Sgt. Angie Kinstner, but the fender benders along the route from the Chicago area resulted in long delays for students and their parents returning to East Central Illinois.
The convoy produced 13 accidents between about 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in Kinstner's region, which includes Ford, Iroquois and Kankakee counties, she said. The high volume of southbound traffic has cleared as of this evening, but around 9 p.m., traffic in the northbound lanes has increased as parents return to Chicagoland.
So far, "everything is moving smoothly" in the northbound lanes, she said.
"That's why we have special details," Kinstner said.
State police today were running "Click It or Ticket" patrols and speed details "to remind motorists to be safe," she said.
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