Semi driver crashes while talking to Siri during 'sneezing fit' in NW Indiana

CROWN POINT, Ind. (Sun-Times Media Wire) - The driver of a semitrailer was talking to an artificial intelligence application when she had a ‘sneezing fit’ that led to a rollover crash Sunday morning on Interstate 65 in northwest Indiana.

About 6:20 p.m., the 55-year-old Michigan woman was driving a 2012 Volvo semi with a tanker trailer south on I-65 in a construction zone near Crown Heights when she started sneezing while talking to Siri on her iPhone, according to Indiana State Police.

When she looked up, the woman saw that she was going to crash into construction barrels and swerved to avoid them, state police said. Her load of cleaning solution shifted when she veered to the right, causing the rig to overturn.

The right lane of I-65 was closed for roughly 8 hours as the cleaning solution was loaded into another tanker and the semi was turned upright, state police said.

The woman wasn’t injured, state police said. She was cited for unsafe lane movement.