Semi-truck swerved to avoid pedestrian before crash on I-696, police said

WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - Police have some advice traveling on the highway: don't get out of your car.

It may seem like an obvious tip, but police emphasized the warning after they said one pedestrian exited their vehicle on I-696, which prompted a semi-truck to veer out of the way and into the car.

The crash left the vehicle mangled and a highway shutdown for most of Monday.

"It appears that for some unknown reason, one of the passengers of the Ford Fusion got out of the vehicle exited the vehicle on the freeway," said Deputy Police Commissioner William Reichling.

Reichling said the passenger is alive. 

Remarkably, everyone survived the ordeal. It happened on westbound I-696 Monday around 11 a.m.

"There was a semi-truck behind them that swerved to avoid this person which resulted in a collision between the semi and Ford Fusion," said the deputy commissioner.

It's not clear if the Ford Fusion was still moving at the time of the crash. Much of the information remains preliminary and Reichling said an accident reconstructionist was sent in to aid their investigation.

A statement from DM International, the company that owns the truck involved in the crash said its driver had been hospitalized but was expected to be okay.

"Preliminary information suggests that the incident occurred when the driver of the four-wheeler lost control of its car and drove right into our semi truck," read the statement. "Our driver is currently in the hospital, but it’s our understanding that he didn’t sustain any injuries."