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Posted by: seanery Jun 20 2003, 11:34 AM

A suspected drunken driver caused about $500,000 in damages after ignoring barriers and traveling through a section of I-65/I-70 that is closed because of the Hyperfix project.

Police said the man, identified as Steven Thomas, 21, of McCordsville, was traveling north in his pickup truck around 2:04 a.m. when he failed to exit on the Market Street ramp.

Thomas passed a series of orange barrels and plastic barriers, drove about a half mile and then rode through about 300 feet of freshly poured concrete. Police say he slammed into a large machine that helps to prepare the one-foot deep surface.

State transportation officials said the machine, worth an estimated $200,000, was destroyed. The state also lost $300,000 in lost work time and materials, and in the time needed to repave the damaged area.

Thomas faces preliminary charges of public intoxication, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and other traffic citations, according to Indiana State Police. He is expected to be released from custody this afternoon.

"As a person that is sober I would assume you'd be able to see (the barrels)," said Indiana state police Sgt. Ray Poole. "There's a reason we want them (impaired drivers) off the road and this is one of the obvious reasons."

Indiana Department of Transportation officials say there is plenty of warning to motorists.

No one was injured. But authorities said a 20-member work crew had been in that area just a couple hours earlier, when the concrete was being poured.

Authorities said they expect no delays to Hyperfix, now in the 25th day of an expected 85-day roadway reconstruction project. An official with Walsh Construction, the Chicago-based firm doing the work, said at the scene that a new machine will be brought in from Chicago to replace the damaged device.

"Although it will be costly, it should not in the overall scheme of things impact the completion of the project," said state transportation spokesman Roger Manning. "The very aggressive schedule the contractor is on should not be affected."

The wreck occurred in the northbound lanes of I-65 between Washington Street and a railroad bridge. Tire tracks from the pickup were visible in the freshly poured pavement, a mixture of aggregate and cement that feels like dried mud.

Thomas' forward progress was stopped by the large tine and cure machine that creates grooves in the surface to give motorists' tires better traction.

It's the first time since the massive Hyperfix project began that such a wreck has occurred.

Posted by: Bleyseng Jun 20 2003, 11:39 AM

You would have to be "toasted" to drive thru the signs and barriers, that stuff happens here too.
Instead of jail time they should have the guy out there working with the road crew as a "gofer". They would work his ass to death!
Jail time or road time-which is worse? Road time!


Geoff

Posted by: need4speed Jun 20 2003, 05:46 PM

Posted by: Rob Ways Jun 20 2003, 06:06 PM

This would be good fodder for a real beer commercial.

"Hey you're 21, have no life, no girlfriend, and you're drunk. Bravo! Go for a drive - Its Miller time. "

I hope this guy gets help or kills himself before he kills somebody.

Posted by: GWN7 Jun 20 2003, 07:31 PM

His life as he knew it is over. When he's finished with the courts charges and fines or jail time. Then the lawsuits take over. He will be bankrupt when that's all over with and most probably so will the bar he was drinking at.