Update: Accident injures four, shuts down State Road 37

Four people were taken to Indianapolis hospitals after a serious multi-vehicle accident on State Road 37 Tuesday morning.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, White River Township Fire Department and Indiana State Police responded to a serious car accident involving multiple vehicles and a semi at 7:08 a.m. Tuesday on the northbound lanes State Road 37 south of Smith Valley Road. There were five vehicles and one semi involved in the crash, according to a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Deputies say vehicles were slowed and/or stopped at the traffic light on State Road 37 at Smith Valley Road when the driver of a semi traveling northbound struck several vehicles from behind. The semi driver said he was distracted, and when he looked up, he was unable to stop, the news release says.

The driver was asked to take a preliminary breath test, which showed he was not intoxicated at the time of the crash, according to a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office report.

The vehicles were heavily damaged to the point that firefighters had to free occupants from their vehicles, according to the news release.

Four people were taken to an Indianapolis hospitals, and none of the injuries were life-threatening, according to the news release. Their names were not released.

Northbound State Road 37 was closed from State Road 144 to Smith Valley Road due to the accident for six hours. The road reopened around 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the news release says.