ADDISON TWP. ? A garbage truck and delivery van were involved in a head-on collision on Indian Lake Rd, a quarter-mile east of Barr Rd, shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday.
According to the sheriff’s report, the driver of a Promed Delivery Inc. van, a 34-year-old Detroit man, was traveling westbound on Indian Lake Rd. when he collided head-on with a BAFI Waste Systems truck traveling eastbound.
The van was traveling “too fast for conditions” as it came around a corner, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Dominic Spadafore. The driver “lost control” of the vehicle, slid on the snow-and-ice-covered dirt road and struck the garbage truck, he said.
Spadafore said the driver of the garbage truck, a 33-year-old Grand Blanc man, told him he saw the van coming and tried to move over to the right (toward the guardrail) “as far as he could,” but the two vehicles still collided.
The van driver sustained a 4-inch cut to his forehead, lacerations on both knees and complained of ankle pain, according to the Oxford Fire Department.
Firefighters also treated him for possible internal and spinal injuries. The victim was conscious and speaking to emergency personnel at the accident scene.
The victim was reported to be in stable condition when he was transported to Crittention Hospital in Rochester Hills by an amubulance from the Addison Township Fire Department.
Neither the garbage truck driver nor his passenger, a 29-year-old Pontiac man, were injured.
Spadafore said the driver of the van was cited for “failure to use due care and caution.”
The reason the Oxford Fire Department responded to the call was because Oakland County Dispatch notified Oxford Village Dispatch there was an accident at Indian Lake and Barr roads, which is just inside Oxford Township, according to Oxford Dispatcher Tony VanHouten.
VanHouten said he dispatched Oxford firefighters to the scene, then overheard radio traffic from the sheriff’s helicopter which indicated the accident was in the 3600 block of Indian Lake Rd., which is east of Barr Rd. and located in Addison.
VanHouten said he then contacted Addison Fire Chief George Spencer to confirm the accident location was in Addison, not Oxford.
When Spencer confirmed it, VanHouten said he immediately notified county dispatch.
After speaking with VanHouten, Spencer said there was a 13-15 minute delay before county dispatched Addison firefighters to the scene.
Spencer said he’s working with county dispatch to determine what caused this “excessive delay.”