A semi-truck lost control late Tuesday morning on eastbound I-696 near 11 Mile Road in Warren, jackknifing across the left three lanes and immediately grinding traffic to a halt. Troopers say the driver was moving too fast for the wet conditions, and the impact scattered debris and ruptured the truck’s fuel system, forcing crews into a large-scale cleanup operation as diesel spilled across the pavement.
While crews worked the scene, more crashes started happening behind them — the same secondary wrecks police keep warning about when drivers refuse to slow down or pay attention while passing an active scene. Those collisions forced authorities to shut down the rest of the freeway entirely until they could get the situation under control.
As of early afternoon, the right lane was expected to reopen shortly, but the left three lanes will remain closed for several hours while hazardous materials teams finish clearing fuel from the roadway. “Drivers need to slow down in rain and soon in snow,” said F/Lt. Mike Shaw, who reiterated that gawking and careless driving continue to cause avoidable chain-reaction crashes across the region.
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