Seven children were among nine people injured when a driver fell asleep at the wheel early Sunday and crashed her SUV in northwest Indiana.
About 3 a.m., a 31-year-old woman was driving a 2007 Dodge Nitro east on Interstate 90/94 at the 37.5 mile marker near Michigan City when she fell asleep, according to Indiana State Police. The Dodge veered off the road and down an embankment before flipping over, striking a tree and coming to a rest on its roof in a drainage ditch culvert.
The woman, who lives in South Bend, Indiana, suffered a leg injury and was having trouble breathing, state police said. She was taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.
The Dodge’s front seat passenger, a 23-year-old Chicago woman who was also asleep at the time of the crash, was taken to Franciscan Health in Michigan City with injuries to her head and face, state police said.
The driver’s three-year-old girl injured her forehead and hand, and her one-year-old boy suffered injuries that weren’t believed to be life-threatening, state police said. The passenger’s children — an eight-year-old girl, twin five-year-old boys and twin three-month-old girls — also suffered injuries that weren’t believed to be life threatening. One of the twin boys dislocated his shoulder and suffered head trauma, while the other suffered cuts.
All seven children were initially taken to Franciscan for treatment, state police said. The driver’s boy and the passenger’s twin girls were later transferred to Comer Children’s Hospital.
The Dodge only had two car seats and a single booster seat, state police said.
