A federal report on a tanker-truck crash a year ago in central Illinois that spilled a toxic chemical and killed five people includes an interview with a 17-year-old Ohio girl who concedes that the truck was forced off the road when she passed it with the minivan she was driving.
The tanker slowed and pulled to the right to allow the minivan to get back in the right-hand lane and avoid a head-on collision with oncoming traffic on the two-lane US 40 in Teutopolis on Sept. 29, 2023, according to dash-cam video from the truck also released late Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Oh, (expletive). Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Yep, totally my bad. Wow. Holy (expletive),” the girl said while watching the video from the ill-fated truck during an Oct. 4, 2023, Illinois State Police interview.
The tanker truck was carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia when it jack-knifed and hit a utility trailer parked just off the highway…