Semi driver’s sneeze causes rollover crash near Portage

(PORTAGE, Ind.) A semi truck driver’s ill-timed sneeze sent his rig rolling onto its side Monday morning in northwest Indiana.

A semi truck hauling a 45,000-lb. steel coil rolled over Monday after the driver lost control during a sneeze. | Indiana State Police
A semi truck hauling a 45,000-lb. steel coil rolled over Monday after the driver lost control during a sneeze. | Indiana State Police

The driver, a 48-year-old Hobart man, was not hurt in the crash, which happened on a ramp from State Route 249 to I-94 near Portage, according to Indiana State Police.

The truck was pulling a flatbed trailer with a steel coil weighing 45,000 pounds, State Police said.

As the driver entered the ramp, he started to sneeze, which caused the truck to run off the roadway and onto a grassy area where the rig rolled onto its side, State Police said.

Crews later put the semi back on its wheels. No fuel spilled, and no lanes were closed during the response.