Dump truck driver cited after Thanksgiving Day crash on I-95

The driver of a dump truck that was operating with the bed raised when it struck a traffic sign and then the Route 141 overpass bridge Wednesday morning was cited, Delaware State Police said.

The man, a 44-year-old from Glenolden, Pennsylvania, was ticketed for careless driving. Under state law, a first offense carries a minimum fine of $25 and a maximum of $75.

Delaware law states that “any additional offense, if any, committed within three years of a prior offense” is punishable by a fine of $50 to $95.

What happened on I-95 Wednesday morning?

According to the Delaware Department of Transportation and State Police, the man entered I-495 at Exit 2/Terminal Avenue just before 4 a.m. Wednesday morning. He had the bed of his 2020 Peterbilt dump truck raised.

Police said the cause was “unknown.”

In an accident on I-95, the man first crashed into a “large” sign north of the Route 141 overpass, causing debris to fall onto the road.

THE SAGA:After hours of delays, I-95 is reopening after a dump truck hit a bridge

Despite hitting the sign, the man continued south before hitting the Route 141 overpass. The impact caused the debris to fall loose and fall onto the right shoulder of I-95. The man then stopped.

Another dump truck was driving behind the man and had to swerve to avoid colliding with him. This caused the second driver to swerve across all southbound lanes of I-95, hit two guardrails separating I-295’s southbound access lane to I-95, hit a third guardrail, and then crashed into “a large drainage ditch.” stopped, police said.

Five other vehicles were damaged by the debris from the accidents. These included: a Honda Accord, a Ford Taurus, a Hyundai Santa Fe, a Mazda 3 and a Cadillac 350.

Police said the debris “caused varying degrees of damage to their respective vehicles.”

The driver of the first dump truck suffered minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital, while the second driver, a 31-year-old man from Newark, was uninjured.

The driver of the Honda Accord, a 19-year-old woman from Middletown, also suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.

Before Thanksgiving there was heavy traffic chaos for hours

The crash likely happened at the worst possible time – the busiest travel day of the year.

Although it happened early in the morning, I-95 didn’t reopen until around 10 a.m. Hours later, traffic was still very heavy.

The crash comes as more Delawareans than ever plan to travel for Thanksgiving this week, according to recently released AAA forecasts.

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While AAA estimates only 217,000 First State residents will travel for Thanksgiving, that’s still nearly a quarter of the state’s population.

Of those, more than 91% of travelers, or more than 198,000 Delaware residents, will travel by car. That is 1.8% more drivers than in the previous year.

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Dump truck driver cited after Thanksgiving Day crash on I-95

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