A driver traveling the wrong way down Interstate 5 near Lake Oswego was critically injured early Friday after she clipped the side of one tractor trailer and smashed head-on into another, Oregon State Police said. Sydney Lopez Martinez, 25, was airlifted to OHSU Hospital following the wild crash that also involved a third semi-truck, police said.
Sgt. Yvette Shephard, a state police spokeswoman, said authorities believe alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash, which occurred just before 2 a.m. None of the other drivers was injured. Martinez, of Cornelius, was heading south in the northbound lanes of I-5 near Kruse Way when truck operator James Cropper, 66, saw the headlights of her black Mazda M6 heading right for him, he told police.
Firefighters extricated driver from veh vs. semi crash on I-5 NB at Carman Dr on-ramp. Driver of vehicle sustained traumatic injuries & was transported by @LifeFlightNtwrk to a local hospital. Semi-truck driver was not injured. @ORStatePolice on scene investigating cause. pic.twitter.com/uNhIVXJJwv
— TVF&R (@TVFR) March 30, 2018
Cropper, a Gervais resident, swerved his white Volvo tractor trailer to avoid a collision and sideswiped a red Freightliner driven by 29-year-old Victor Amaro of California, Shephard said. Martinez clipped the rear tires of Cropper’s truck and then careened head-on into a white Freightliner operated by 30-year-old Dilpreet Singh of California, police said.
TRAFFIC ALERT: I-5 @ 217 in Tigard all NB lanes closed due to serious crash. #PDXTraffic pic.twitter.com/KBl3dqWkRj
— Tracy Hinson (@tvalwx) March 30, 2018
The Mazda and the Singh’s Freightliner came to rest on a grassy shoulder, police said.
OSP is now allowing cars to use the on ramp back onto I-5 NB near the crash scene by Carman Dr. pic.twitter.com/060mkxdU2e
— Tracy Hinson (@tvalwx) March 30, 2018