A big rig driver was seriously injured in an early-morning traffic accident on Wednesday, Aug. 2, on I-55 north of Hwy. Z in Pevely, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.
At about 5:15 a.m., Willie J. Lomas, 76, of Joliet, Ill., was driving a 2000 Sterling AT9500 truck south on the interstate and ran off the left side of the road, where it struck the center median cable. Then, the truck continued south in the center median, became airborne at Hwy. Z, struck a concrete wall and came to rest below the interstate on Hwy. Z, the report said.
Lomas was taken by Joachim-Plattin Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County, where he was still listed in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said Wednesday afternoon.
The vehicle was totaled, and it is not known if Lomas was wearing a seat belt, the patrol reported.