TOWN OF SHEBOYGAN FALLS — Three separate crashes occurred on State Highway 23 in Sheboygan Falls on Thursday morning after a 79-year-old driver made an illegal U-turn, according to the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office.
Heavy fog contributed to the crashes, with visibility along the highway severely limited to less than a tenth of a mile around 7:30 a.m.
Watch: Driver causes multiple crashes in heavy fog on STHY 23 in Sheboygan Falls
"I wanna say a couple of feet," a witness described the visibility conditions.
The sheriff’s office said a 79-year-old female driver from Sheboygan caused a chain reaction after making an illegal U-turn on Sunset Road in front of a 19-year-old man who was driving east.
The crash then caused a chain-reaction collision involving five more vehicles and sent a 22-year-old man from Plymouth to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
A 37-year-old woman from Glenbeulah was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries, and her two juvenile passengers were taken to the hospital but are expected to be okay.
"I just saw a bunch of cars and police cars out there with the lights over in this direction," said Jackie Zais, who works across the street from the crash site at Moraine Builders. "There was a cattle truck down there."
Zais said she didn’t immediately notice the accident scene because it was obscured by the heavy fog.
"I live in Manitowoc County, and I take the back roads coming in. And it was getting foggier as I got to Sheboygan County," Zais said.
The sheriff’s office said two other crashes were also reported, with fog contributing to the crash, as well as vehicles slowing down due to the initial crash. An additional crash happened just west of the initial crash, with no injuries reported.
Shortly after, another crash was reported on STH 23 eastbound, east of Bridgewood Road, involving eight cars and injuring two people.
The sheriff’s office emphasized the importance of driving with headlights on and reducing speed during unsafe weather conditions — a sentiment Zais also shared.
"People need to drive with their headlights on. I mean, I came across a few with no headlights on," Zais said. "On a foggy day and rainy day, you've got to put them on."
The 79-year-old driver will be cited for her failure to yield the right of way causing injury, with the crashes still under investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
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