Hobart, Indiana – January 30, 2012

A worker for the Merrillville Street Department was injured on Monday when a semi struck his city vehicle at 1 p.m. The semi was traveling southbound on Indiana State Road 53 when it struck the vehicle on the roadside near 73rd Avenue.

Local police stated that the street department worker, whose name was withheld, suffered injuries and was taken to Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus. The semi also struck a nearby power pole, knocking it down and knocking out power to the nearby area.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that more than 500,000 semis and large commercial vehicles were involved in traffic crashes in 2010. Those accidents resulted in injuries to more than 100,000 people and more than 5,000 deaths.