Highway driving on Interstate 78 East through Newark, New Jersey took a fatal turn Tuesday morning near milepost 56.8. Local lanes were clogged with morning traffic, leaving cars idling in place. Among them was a Chevrolet sedan stopped in the left lane, holding driver Ayesha Wright, 42, and passenger Kendra Rouse, 25.
A Mack tractor hauling a utility trailer was traveling eastbound when it encountered the sudden wall of stopped vehicles. The truck was closing in fast on the rear of Wright’s Chevrolet sedan in the left lane.
Attempting to prevent a rear-end collision, the truck driver steered hard away from the stopped sedan. However, sudden steering adjustments in heavy commercial vehicles can easily trigger a rollover. The evasive turn caused the Mack truck to lose stability and overturn directly onto the Chevy.
The full weight of the tractor and utility trailer landed on top of the car, collapsing the passenger cabin. Neither Wright nor Rouse had room to steer away or avoid the falling commercial vehicle.
New Jersey State Police received calls reporting the overturned rig at 9:08 a.m. Troopers arriving at the scene found the local eastbound lanes completely blocked by the fallen tractor-trailer and crushed car underneath.
Both Wright and Rouse died at the scene from their injuries. The driver of the Mack truck sustained only minor injuries and received medical evaluation from emergency responders at the site.
Crash reconstruction teams with the New Jersey State Police are reviewing the incident to determine truck speeds and braking distances prior to the swerve. The investigation remains ongoing as investigators gather physical evidence from the highway.
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