Traveling I-77

First Posted: 1:56 pm - July 3rd, 2015 - Views

Photo courtesy of Virginia State Police A tractor trailer pulling double trailers overturned on Interstate 77 in Carroll County on Friday morning, taking the life of the driver and causing major traffic delays.

A tractor-trailer wreck on Interstate 77 in Carroll County, Virginia, claimed the life of a North Carolina man and is causing major delays on Interstate 77 in Carroll County

According to Virginia State Police Public Relations Director Corinne N. Geller, the accident occurred at 8:06 a.m. on today. Virginia State Police Sr. Trooper D.A. Phipps was called to the scene of a fatal crash in the southbound lanes of Interstate 77. The crash occurred near the 22 mile marker in Carroll County.

Geller said a tractor-trailer pulling double trailers was traveling north on I-77 when the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle as it came through a curve. The tractor-trailer ran off the left side of the highway, went through the median, and overturned across the southbound lanes of I-77. When the tractor-trailer entered the southbound lanes, the second trailer struck a 2014 Chevrolet Aveo.

“The driver of the tractor-trailer, Randall O. Page, 36, of Charlotte, N.C., died at the scene, ” Geller said in a written statement. “The driver of the Aveo, a 22-year-old Ohio woman, was transported to Wythe Community Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.”

The cause of the crash remains ongoing.

The southbound lanes of I-77 have remained closed and will be for at least the next few hours due to the extensive cleanup of the tractor-trailer and its load, Geller said shortly before noon Friday. The Virginia Department of Transportation is assisting with detours for southbound traffic.