A serious wrong-way crash that injured five people closed down westbound Loop 101 near 7th Avenue for several hours early Sunday morning.
According to the Department of Public Safety, troopers received a call about a wrong-way driver in a Jeep Cherokee on the Loop 101 traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes near 19th Avenue.
According to a witness named Justin who spoke with ABC15 at the scene, even though the Jeep was headed in the wrong direction, the driver appeared to be driving normally and not erratically.
The Jeep collided with a mini-van traveling in the westbound HOV lane around 7th Avenue. DPS says a mother from Glendale was in the van with her three children while her husband was following separately in another vehicle.
DPS spokesperson Bart Graves says the mother suffered non-life threatening injuries, 6-year-old and 4-year-old girls suffered head injuries and a month-old baby girl appears to be OK. All four are expected to make a full recovery.
"This mother really saved the day," Graves said. The children were all reportedly buckled in properly and everything the mother did safety-wise helped protect her children.
The mother reportedly swerved to avoid the oncoming Jeep, but the Jeep also swerved right before impact, slamming into the van's front passenger side.
Graves says that the Jeep was completely impacted into the van's front passenger side, which could have caused fatal injuries if anyone had been sitting in that seat.
On the scene of another wrong way driver crash. This one hit a minivan carrying a Glendale Mom and her three little girls (including a newborn).DPS credits Mom form"Doing everything right" when it came to buckling up her kids in the backseat.
Posted by MaryEllen Resendez-ABC15 on Sunday, April 3, 2016
The suspect driver, only described as a man in his late thirties or early forties, is reportedly in critical condition but expected to survive.
Investigators are testing him for possible impairment.
The Arizona Department of Transportation and DPS announced the freeway reopened just after 9 a.m.
Check current traffic conditions
Stay with ABC15 for updates.
