A suspected impaired driver crashed into a Wyoming Department of Transportation vehicle in Sweetwater County last week, injuring himself and two WYDOT workers, destroying his vehicle and temporarily closing Interstate 80.

On the morning of Jan. 11, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper noticed an older Ford pickup weaving all over the road. The trooper attempted to stop the westbound Ford, but before he could catch up, the truck collided with the back of a WYDOT vehicle.

At the time of collison, around 7:22 a.m., the WYDOT  vehicle was parked on the shoulder of the highway, as two workers cleaned delineator posts; they had activated the arrow board on their state vehicle to alert drivers of their presence. The collision pushed the WYDOT vehicle off the roadway, while the Ford pickup came to rest in the left lane of the interstate, stopping westbound traffic until the scene could be cleared.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation employees were injured and transported to Sweetwater County Memorial Hospital.

The driver, identified only as a Green River resident, “sustained serious injuries but is expected to recover,” said Sgt. Jeremy Beck of the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

He added that the man “is being investigated for driving impaired.”

Beck noted Wyoming law requires drivers to switch lanes for emergency, construction, maintenance and utility vehicles that are stopped on the road or, on two-lane roads with speed limits of 45 mph or more, slow to 20 mph below the posted limit.