Crime & Safety

I-495 Crash: SUV Swerves, Tractor-Trailer Jackknifes, Two-Hour Traffic Jam

SUV driver swerved to avoid hitting a cardboard box and lost control of his vehicle. He was flown from the scene for treatment of injuries.

Two crashes blocked traffic for nearly two hours Wednesday in the northbound lanes of I-495 at the American Legion Bridge, sending one man to the hospital, causing a tractor-trailer to jackknife and tying up traffic for nearly two hours.

At 10:57 a.m. Wednesday, Virginia State Police Trooper S.C. Skillman responded to two crashes in the northbound lanes of I-495 at the American Legion Bridge. 

A 1998 Ford Explorer was traveling north when it swerved to miss a cardboard box in its lane. The driver lost control and ran off the left side of the road, where it struck the Jersey wall. The SUV then spun back across the northbound lanes and ran off the right shoulder into the guardrail. 

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Meanwhile, as a northbound tractor-trailer attempted to avoid the out-of-control Ford Explorer, it jackknifed across the northbound lanes. The two vehicles never came in contact with one another.

The driver of the Ford Explorer, Nakatoke Kapingiri, 40, of Washington, D.C., was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment of serious but non-life threatening injuries. He was wearing a seat belt. Kapingiri was charged for failing to maintain control of his vehicle.

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The driver of the tractor-trailer, a Kentucky male, was not injured in the crash. His tractor-trailer was partially loaded with cabinetry.

By 12:50 p.m., all northbound lanes were re-opened to thru traffic.


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