Mar. 7—THOMASBORO — A Rantoul man was killed Monday afternoon when he was struck by a pickup truck while changing a tire on a busy highway.
Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup identified the deceased as Brian A. Schue, 29, who died of blunt force injuries to the chest.
The tragic accident that took Mr. Schue’s life happened about 90 minutes after another three-vehicle accident about a mile north of there that sent two people to the hospital.
Both accidents, which happened a year to the day after a 20-year-old St. Joseph tow truck driver died from being hit by a passing motorist, had Thomasboro Fire Chief Paul Cundiff urging motorists to use good judgment when faced with a problem on the road and to be vigilant when driving near an accident.
“Even if you have to drive on a flat, get to an intersection or a halfway decent shoulder on the right hand side of the road,” said the veteran first responder.
“You still have the gawkers who won’t not videotape. They want to slow down or stop and ask questions. That causes more interference with what (first responders) are trying to do.”
Cundiff said several people told him they saw Mr. Schue changing the tire in the passing lane. Concerned motorists had contacted METCAD to let police know that, and an officer was on the way when Mr. Schue was hit, he said.
Cundiff said Mr. Schue had apparently finished his task, because the tire was on the Elantra, which was also hit.
State police did not release the name of the man driving the pickup. He was taken to an area hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Cundiff said the pickup driver was out of his truck and walking and talking before being taken away.
He and Mr. Schue were alone in their respective vehicles.
The accident shut down northbound U.S. 45 for more than six hours while clean-up and investigation took place.
Cundiff said the accident happened at what is typically a heavy traffic time for those commuting from Urbana to Thomasboro and Rantoul.
And it happened about 90 minutes after another accident about a mile north of that location that involved three vehicles. Thomasboro firefighters helped with both accidents.
State police said that at 3:25 p.m., a vehicle headed west on County Road 2500 North apparently disregarded the stop sign at U.S. 45 and was hit by a vehicle headed north on 45 in the intersection. A second northbound vehicle swerved to avoid the collision and went into the right ditch.
The drivers of the two vehicles that collided in the intersection both went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The third driver declined to be taken in an ambulance, Cundiff said.
The fire chief said that as he and other Thomasboro firefighters were trying to get motorists off U.S. 45, he saw a southbound motorist in the left lane who appeared to be recording the crash on his phone while veering into the right lane of traffic.
Later, on Facebook, Cundiff expressed relief that no police or firefighters were hurt, but he used the forum to vent.
“Everyone went home safe this time. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying by distracted drivers wanting to see the crashes and not paying attention to directions. Or trying to get ‘that’ video. Some people have no regard for responders working an accident scene. Nor do they have the patience to let us get a handle on the situation. Our members are trained to direct traffic and keep things flowing in a safe and controlled manner. It may take a minute to get it established but just give us that minute, there are reasons you might have to wait.”
“To the guy that was on his phone recording as he drove by inches away from us working, I will not apologize for the bad words used to get your attention as you were veering into another lane of traffic,” Cundiff wrote.