LA GRANDE — A man was injured Thursday, Jan. 5, on Interstate 84 about 10 miles west of La Grande in a car versus semi-trailer accident.

The accident occurred at 3:15 p.m. when a Dodge Charger driven by an adult male crashed into the back of flatbed trailer in a westbound lane. The Dodge Charger then bounced off the trailer into the roadway before spinning back into the lane of the crash and into a guardrail.

The driver of the Charger, who had no passengers, was injured in the crash and transported to Grande Ronde Hospital by ambulance with unknown injuries. The man was reported to have been traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash, according to the Oregon State Police.

The driver of the semi-flatbed pickup was not injured in the crash and his vehicle sustained only minor damage.

The Dodge Charger, which had North Carolina license plates, sustained major damage when it hit the guardrail and had to be towed from the scene, said Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Robert Routt. Safety mechanisms played an important role in preventing injuries from being more serious, he said.

“The seatbelts and airbags did their job,” Routt said.

Routt said the crash would have been much worse if the driver of the Charger had collided with a higher flatbed trailer because his vehicle would likely have gone under it, potentially causing more serious injuries.

Conditions of I-84 were not icy when the crash occurred.

In addition to the OSP, the La Grande Fire Department, the La Grande Rural Fire Department and the Oregon Department of Transportation all responded to the crash.