Tour Bus Driven By Woodbury Man Involved In Accident

MATTOON, IL — A Chicago man died early Saturday from injuries he received after being hit by a car as he stood outside his vehicle on Interstate 57.

Tiffany Taylor of Chicago, Ill. was in the driving lane traveling southbound on I-57 at mile post 189 next to a tour bus in the passing lane driven by Bennie Rice of Woodbury, TN.

Taylor sideswiped the bus and veered off onto the west shoulder. Taylor attempted to regain control, but failed and sideswiped the bus a second time.

Illinois State Police at Pesotum said Joseph Taylor, 48, was standing outside the car he'd been in because its driver, Tiffany Taylor, 25, had sideswiped a southbound tour bus about 5:45 a.m.

Their Toyota Camry came to rest on top of the I-57 bridge facing east against the guardrail but blocking the passing lane and the left shoulder.

About 6:07 a.m., a southbound Chevrolet Suburban avoided the crash by driving on to the right shoulder, but a second Toyota Camry hit the Suburban then T-boned the already disabled Camry. The impact of that collision caused the disabled Camry to hit Mr. Taylor.

The driver of the second Camry, Kimberly Eddleman, 50, of Johnston, was not hurt. She was issued a ticket for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Tiffany Taylor and another passenger in her car, Ronald Key, 58, of Chicago, were taken to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center for treatment. A four-year-old boy with them was not injured.

Tiffany Taylor was ticketed for improper lane usage for the encounter with the tour bus.

In that accident, Taylor was in the driving lane and the tour bus was in the passing lane of southbound I-57.

Police said Taylor sideswiped the bus then veered off to the west shoulder. As she tried to regain control of the car, she sideswiped the bus a second time. The car then hit the guardrail and came to rest. That's when Joseph Taylor and Key got out.

Neither the driver of the tour bus, Bennie Rice, 48, of Woodbury, nor any of his nine passengers, from the Nashville area, were injured.

The driver of the Suburban that had avoided the Taylor vehicle was identified as Yuma Hayes, 40, of Chicago. Neither she nor her three passengers were hurt.