Norma K. Sutterer, 68, of Arnold was hurt Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 3) when the car she was driving on I-55 south of Arnold struck the back of a tractor-trailer and then bounced back and forth between it and a second tractor-trailer before eventually running off the road, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reports.
At 12:37 p.m., Sutterer was driving a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser in Lane 2 of southbound I-55 at mile marker 188.2 between Imperial and the Richardson Road exit in Arnold and drifted into Lane 1, striking the back right side of a southbound 2003 Freightliner Century big rig, the report said.
The impact of that collision pushed the PT Cruiser to the right, and the front right side of it struck the left side of a second tractor-trailer, a 2002 Mack Vision headed south in Lane 3. Then, that impact caused the PT Cruiser to again strike the back of the Freightliner before being bounced back and once again striking the back of the Mack, according to the report.
After bouncing back and froth between the big rigs, the PT Cruiser ran off the left side of the road, where it struck a concrete median and then came to rest on the shoulder, the report said.
Sutterer sustained moderate injuries and was taken by Rock Township Ambulance to St. Anthony’s Medical Center in south St. Louis County, where she was listed in satisfactory condition this afternoon (Aug. 4), a hospital spokesman said.
Melvin O. Vaught, 37, of Olive Branch, Miss., was driving the Freightliner, and Kreg P. Exsterstein, 37, of Belle Chasse, La., was driving the Mack. No injuries were reported for them.
Sutterer was not wearing a seat belt, and both big rig drivers were wearing them, the patrol reported.
The PT Cruiser was totaled, and the two big rigs sustained minor damage, the report said.