(WSBT/AP) There have been nearly two dozen fatalities on the stretch of the Indiana Toll Road near Bristol in the last two and a half years.

Officials say people are not slowing down going into and out of construction zones. They say these fatal accidents could be avoided if people slow down.

Thursday morning’s accident is a somber reminder of the danger of driving too fast.

“I was right behind them. They had to have been going too fast too close,” said Mark Laibrande, a trucker who saw accident.

Officials say traffic was backed up due to another wreck further up the road, and a semitrailer didn’t slow down.

“People don’t slow down for construction zones. They absolutely refuse to slow down,” Pat Condon, the Toll Road Maintenance manager, said Thursday.

Over the last two and a half years, 20 people have been killed. Most involved semitrailers not slowing down in construction zones and running over cars.

“That needs to stop. We need to save lives. These seven died and shouldn’t have,” Laibrande added.

Officials say state troopers are positioned near construction zones, but there’s only so much they can do.

“The problem is that we can’t drive for everyone else. If this is the beginning, then I hate to see what happens next. Hopefully, we’re done,” Condon added.

Officials say it’s up to drivers to take safe into their own hands by slowing down.

Thursday's accident adds to the grim total.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Trent Smith told WSBT News the accident happened at 6:42 a.m. According to Smith, Toll Road police had responded to an earlier accident, which was backing up traffic in the westbound lanes.

State police said the driver of the semi never slowed until he struck the vehicles, which had stopped because of a separate crash near a construction site. Two of the vehicles were crushed beyond recognition — a pickup truck carrying six people, five of whom died, and a Jeep Cherokee in which two were killed. The driver of another pickup truck that was knocked off the road also died.

"At this point, we don't know the reason. He did not slow down," Smith said.

State police reported those killed were Cherokee occupants Douglas and Mary Helen George of Springfield, N.H., along with pickup truck driver Mark Repp of Sturgis, Mich. The passengers killed in the other truck were Merle Miller, 44, of Ligonier; Lester Yoder, 36, of Topeka; and Vernan Miller, 38; Samuel Yoder, 46, and his son, Anthony Yoder, 17, all of Wolcottville.

The driver of the truck in which the five people died — Wayne Lehman of LaGrange — was listed in critical condition at Memorial Hospital in South Bend.

While investigators blamed the crash on driver inattention, no charges were immediately filed against the semi driver, Leonardo Cooksey, 31, of Mount Prospect, Ill., who was not injured. Investigators said they would send their report to the county prosecutor for review.