MIDDLETOWN — Traffic was still moving slowly Monday afternoon following a serious accident Monday morning around 9 a.m.
The preliminary investigation revealed that three pickup trucks–a Ford F450 SUP, a Chevy Silvardo and a Chevy C4500 C4–were parked in the breakdown lane on the right side of the highway as the operators put up signs for a construction job. The trucks were all owned by Mohawk Construction Company.
A tractor trailer was driving in the right lane when it suddenly veered right into the breakdown lane, hitting all three parked cars. One of the operators was in the flat bed of one of the pickup trucks and fell and hit his head on the bed. He was taken to the hospital for injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.
Meanwhile, the operators of the other two pickup trucks were standing outside the cars, and jumped over the guardrail when they heard the tires screeching. They were both taken to the hospital to be evaluated for minor injuries.
Police issued an infraction to the driver of the tractor trailer, Leon Nelson, 58, of Worcester, Massachusetts. The violations were for: failure to drive at a reasonable distance apart in a construction zone, failure to maintain proper lane in a construction zone and failure to stop on the right side of the road.
Nelson was operating a tractor trailer owned by National Freight Inc., a New Jersey-based company. The truck had an Indiana license palte.
The highway was closed for sometime while the accident was investigated and cleared, but has since reopened. However, traffic lingered in the area through the early afternoon.
