Out-of-state traffic accidents in which semi-trailers and tractors collided with autos killed two northwest suburban residents over the weekend.
Killed in the unrelated accidents were Virginia Zito, 79, of Mt. Prospect, and Georgia M. Trucksees, 55, of Barrington.
Zito died Monday morning in Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, from burns she suffered in an accident Friday afternoon in Mesa, Ariz.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said Zito was a passenger in a car driven by her son, Richard, 50, an attorney from Iowa who was also killed.
The two were in a rental car on U.S. Highway 60 where traffic had slowed because motorists were looking at an earlier accident. Then an 18-wheeler struck the Zitos from behind, authorities said.
Their auto burst into flames, and the Zitos were fatally injured despite heroic efforts by passersby to rescue them, according to a Phoenix newspaper.
Sunday morning near Crawfordsville, Ind., a car driven by David Trucksees, 58, of Barrington, and other vehicles were stopped on Interstate Highway 74 because of an accident, said Indiana state police.
A truck driver, Eric Shipley, 28, of Strattanville, Pa., later told police that he looked down to adjust his heater and ran into Trucksees’ auto, pushing it into a bus carrying 19 people which struck another truck, police said.
David Trucksees was listed in fair condition Monday in Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, with a broken right arm and facial cuts.