A 56-year-old Minnesota semi driver was killed Saturday night, November 7, when his semi-tractor entered a closed construction zone on State Route 420 in Troy Township and struck a parked excavator, according to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded at 8:08 p.m. Saturday to State Route 420 between State Route 163 and Truman Road, according to WTOL and BG Independent News, which reported the sheriff’s office findings. The driver was identified as Michael Ivorsen, 56, of Jordan, Minnesota.
According to the preliminary investigation reported by WTOL and BG Independent News, Ivorsen drove around road-closure signs and entered the inactive construction zone on southbound State Route 420. He was driving a 2019 Volvo semi-tractor without a trailer, the outlets reported.
The semi-tractor was traveling in the left lane of the closed roadway when it struck a Caterpillar excavator that had been parked to protect a cut across the roadway, according to the reports. The semi then left the roadway on the left side and came to rest in the median.
Investigators said Ivorsen did not appear to have been wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene, the outlets reported. Impairment is not suspected as a contributing factor, according to the reports.
Pemberville Fire and EMS, Troy Township Fire and EMS and Orr’s Towing assisted at the scene, and representatives of the Ohio Department of Transportation responded to assess the scene, BG Independent News reported. State Route 420 was already closed to through traffic for the construction work. The crash remains under investigation by the Wood County Sheriff’s Office.