GREENFIELD — An Indianapolis woman was on life-support after her car was hit head-on by a van that crossed the center line on U.S. 40 on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Tasha Hanshew, 36, of Indianapolis, was being treated for life-threatening injuries Tuesday evening at Indiana University Methodist Hospital after she was cut out of her car following an accident near the intersection of Windswept Road and U.S. 40.
The other driver, Marcial Umana Tena, 33, also was hospitalized Tuesday night. Umana Tena sustained injuries to his lower body and might have a few broken bones, police said. He is legally a resident of El Salvador, and police are investigating whether he had a valid Indiana driver’s license, they said.
The crash occurred just after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Umana Tena was driving a white van east on U.S. 40 when he swerved to avoid a car attempting to turn left onto Windswept Road, police said. Hanshew was westbound on U.S. 40 in a white sedan when Umana Tena crossed the center line, and his van collided with the sedan.
Both vehicles received heavy damage in the accident, which resulted in both drivers having to be extricated from their vehicles by rescue crews, police said.
Both drivers were taken to Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital by ambulance; medical helicopters were unable to fly because of rain and heavy cloud coverage.The crash is being investigated by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and Greenfield Police Department’s Fatal Accident Crash Team. Police protocols dictate crashes in which someone is seriously injured be investigated as if a fatality had occurred, police said.The investigation closed all four lanes of U.S. 40 near the scene of the accident for at least two hours Tuesday evening.