An elderly male driver was injured when he failed to yield to a semi tanker while attempting to merge onto westbound US-12 from South 11th Street Thursday morning in Niles, according to police.

The driver’s white Chevy Cobalt collided with the passenger’s side of the semi, before losing control and veering into a pile of snow in the median a couple hundred feet to the west.

First responders worked for several minutes to free the man from the wreckage before placing him into a Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service vehicle.

Chad Frantz, a Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy at the scene, said the driver would be transported to South Bend Memorial Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Frantz said he did not yet know the man’s name, age or place of residence.

Frantz also could not specify the severity of the driver’s injuries, although a firefighter at the scene said it did not appear to be life threatening.

There were no passengers in the Chevy and the driver of the semi was uninjured.

Frantz said the accident was caused when the driver of the Chevy failed to yield to the semi, which was traveling west on US-12.

The accident occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m.