A driver suffered life-threatening injuries Monday after their vehicle was rear-ended and then slammed into a tree on Interstate 55 near Kingery Highway.
All southbound lanes were initially closed after the crash but were reopened by 9 a.m., according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The injured driver was traveling southbound about 6:15 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, another driver rear-ended them, Illinois State Police said in a statement.
The struck vehicle then veered off the roadway and hit a tree head-on, state police said. That driver was hospitalized, while the other driver was uninjured.