FOG ADDS TO I-55 ACCIDENTS

A stalled motorist, early morning fog and heavy traffic on Interstate 55 at the Diversion Channel bridge Friday morning caused numerous accidents. Two people were injured.

Police in Cape Girardeau and Scott City investigated no less than a dozen accidents. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was called in to help direct traffic.

Traffic in the northbound lane was backed up on the highway from the bridge to a quarter-mile south of Scott City.

Cape Girardeau Police Patrolman Dan Niswonger investigated the five-car pile-up that precipitated a traffic jam and the other traffic accidents. Niswonger said he counted 10 accidents.

A Scott City Police spokesman said that number was too low, but refused to speculate on how many accidents occured. Motorists were still reporting accidents Friday afternoon.

The first traffic accident happened at about 6:30 a.m. in the northbound lane of I-55 at the Diversion Channel bridge.

Niswonger explained that a car driven by David Reimann, 44, of Cape Girardeau, quit running due to mechanical problems on the bridge. The car was still rolling, and Niswonger said Reimann was hopeful the car would roll to the other side of the bridge.

Before the slow-moving car was off the bridge, it was rear-ended by a pick-up truck driven by Gary E. Larkins, 44, of Jackson.

After hitting the car, he swerved into the passing lane and hit another vehicle in the side. The car was driven by Royce A. Alcott, 48, of Sikeston.

A fourth vehicle was involved in the accident when a car driven by Cindy Poole, 22, of Benton, rear-ended Alcott's car.

Then Larkins' pickup truck hit the car driven by Poole.

The impact of these accidents caused Larkins' pickup truck to spin around so it was headed southbound in the northbound lane. His truck was then hit head-on by a northbound car driven by James Burlbaugh, 43, of Scott City.

Larkins was taken by ambulance to St. Francis Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Niswonger said, "I think the fog, and probably traveling too fast for conditions and the mechanical problems all factored into this accident.

"As a result of this accident, traffic was backed up south into the Scott City limits," Niswonger said. "Numerous accidents occurred there."

Scott City police received numerous reports of accidents on ~I-55, Only one person was injured, but Scott City police did not release the injured person's name.

"It was a mess out there," said the spokesman. "We were real fortunate that there weren't any serious injuries."

Niswonger said Alcott and Poole were not wearing seat belts.