Two Crashes on I-24 Send Four to Hospitals

Three people were hurt Tuesday afternoon in a crash on I-24 near Lone Oak, and another man was injured after crashing his motorcycle a few minutes later due to the traffic backup caused by the first wreck.

The McCracken County Sheriff's Office says emergency crews responded to a crash near the nine mile marker. Deputies said 35-year-old Jennifer Schoolcraft of Grand Rivers was traveling east on I-24, and said she was preparing to turn around in the turnaround. She told deputies she turned on her left turn signal and slowed to make the turn, when she was hit in the rear. The other driver, 18-year-old Kiersten Hayden of Calvert City said she looked down at the radio briefly, and struck the rear of Schoolcraft's vehicle just as she looked up.

Both drivers and a nine-year-old passenger were taken to Lourdes Hospital for treatment.

Deputies said that while investigating the crash, they learned about a second crash at the eight mile marker involving a motorcycle and a semi.
 
The investigation revealed that 48-year-old Paul Kucinski of Clarksville, TN was riding a motorcycle east on I-24 when he approached traffic that was stalled from the earlier crash. He attempted to avoid a collision by steering between a stopped semi-tractor trailer and a passenger car, but struck the edge of the trailer which caused him the veer into the side of the passenger car.

The first impact was reportedly so slight that the driver of the semi, 51-year-old, Grigoriy Pankov of Chaska, MN was unaware that his truck had been hit. The third vehicle, being driven by 36-year-old Richard Senn, received minor damage. After colliding with the passenger car, the motorcycle slid into the cable barrier.

Kucinski was taken to Lourdes Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.  No other injuries were reported.