Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A double fatal crash shut down US-23 for hours in Green Oak Township last night.

The Green Oak Township Police and Fire Departments were dispatched around 9:30pm to a crash involving multiple vehicles on southbound US-23 near mile marker 57, south of Lee Road.

Preliminary investigation revealed a semi tractor-trailer traveling northbound on US-23 crossed over the median and struck another tractor-trailer, head-on, that was traveling southbound. That caused subsequent crashes involving the original tractor-trailer, a pickup truck that caught fire, and a full-sized SUV that all appeared to have been traveling southbound. The driver of the pickup truck was ejected and succumbed to his injuries on-scene, as did the lone driver of the tractor-trailer that was headed southbound.

Police say the SUV was occupied by two teens who were both shaken but with no apparent injuries. The driver of the original tractor-trailer was transported to local a hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. Both northbound and southbound US-23, as well as Whitmore Lake Road, were closed for several hours during the investigation.

The factors that caused the crash are still being investigated by the Livingston County Accident Investigation Team and Green Oak Township Police.

The Green Oak Police and Fire Departments were assisted on scene by Livingston County Ambulance, Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan State Police, Metro Parks Police Authority, Livingston County Central Dispatch, Hamburg Township Police, Brighton Police Department, Livingston County Major Crash Team, and Michigan Department of Transportation.