I-71 South Reopens After Fatal Crash
UPDATE: A fatal crash involving a car and a tractor-trailer closed a portion of Interstate 71 southbound Monday afternoon.
COLUMBUS, Ohio—A fatal crash involving a car and a tractor-trailer closed a portion of Interstate 71 southbound Monday afternoon.
NBC 4 reported with the FAST FACTS.
All lanes of traffic on I-71 southbound, just north of Gemini Place in southern Delaware County, were closed during cleanup and accident investigation. The freeway reopened at about 7:45 p.m.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol diverted traffic from I-71 southbound at U.S. Route 36 in Delaware County. Traffic was diverted to state Route 3 in Sunbury.
The crash was on I-71 southbound between the Gemini Place and Polaris Parkway exits and happened shortly before 4 p.m. Monday.
Initial reports indicated it was a single-vehicle crash and the driver hit a wall.
It later was determined a tractor-trailer also was involved in the crash.
The driver was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:57 p.m.
No more immediate details were available.
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Reader Reactions
I think that if you are going to post a comment you may want to have atleast half the facts before doing so. I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and that is great, but the fact remains that family members from both sides of this accident do read the postings as well and we should have some sort of respect and consideration for what they are going through dealing with this horrible ordeal. I think that everyone should quit thinking of themselves in this case and think of the families of the survivor and the deceased and what they are going through…
I used to take 70 to and from downtown everyday, and it never failed that there was always a wreck on my way to and from work. Now I commute from about an hour south of Columbus, and I’m nervous on 71 every morning and evening. The other morning traffic was going slow onto the exit ramp from 71 north to 70 east, and instead of just slowing down and flowing with traffic, the car in front of me came to a complete stop. The rest of traffic in front of him kept going. Had I not been paying attention, I would have slammed right into his car. I ended up on the side of the road right next to him, and he wasn’t even paying attention! I’m chalking it up to the fact that he looked about 17-18, and had temporary tags on his car. This is why I never follow traffic too closely, and I’ve had people honk and get angry with me for not pulling up as close as I could. I think that everyone needs to slow down and re-evaluate their driving skills. The 315 situation doesn’t help matters either.
Also, I agree…everytime there is a wreck or just a car along side of the road, people slow down and gawk or what have you, and cause traffic to pile up. I’ve seen it just about every other day. The road should be shut down when there is a fatal accident if possible, until the majority of it is cleaned and taken care of. It’s just respectful. I drove past an accident on 71 north near 104/Frank Road one day, and there was still someone laying on the ground, covered in a sheet. Traffic wasn’t being held back at all at this point. That’s not something that you really want to see, especially if you have children in the car.
My father is a truck driver, and after hearing about this last night we were discussing some of the things he has to deal with. He said that just about everytime he puts his blinker on to get over, and has a clear distance, that the cars behind him will speed up and try to get over before he can merge. I’ve noticed now too that semi trucks are weaving in and out of traffic more since they’re allowed to drive 65. It’s all a little unnerving to deal with.
What really aggravates me about Columbus is people always slow down to see an accident, or just someone pulled over, to the point nobody is going over 35mph (sometimes slower). On top of that I try to avoid I-71 as much as possible. It is the worst freeway/highway in this city. My condolences to the driver who passed (no matter whose fault it was) and his/her family.
It has nothing to do with incompetence & everything to do with the fact that people don’t need to be gawping & gawking at fatal accidents. First of all, have some respect. Second of all, the post above about the idiot in the VW proves why the lanes need shut down. People don’t THINK.
mikkie2876 Stated: The car was hit by a Semi and the driver ws killed.
How do you know the truck hit the car? It may have been, the car hit the truck.
I am a Professional OTR Truck Driver, My First objective is to “protect the motoring public”.
My sincere thoughts and prayers to the family for their lose.
We passed by there 1/2 hour after it happened. It was a disturbing sight just to see the car.
I don’t know what happen, but if more people would slow down and drive more sensible instead of like crazy road rage maniacs, things like this would not take place.
Like I said I don’t know what happen, but I thought Akron and Cleveland are crazy on the highways.
I have been driving to Columbus from Massillon for 7 months now and don’t think we have ever not seen a wreck either on 270 West or I71 South when traveling to Tuttle Crossing.
Most people that get in wrecks are not paying attention.
On the way home we were traveling 71 North and someone looking over at the wreck almost hit us in the side,if we wouldn’t have seen her coming across over into our lane and not went over 1 lane she would have hit us and the officers would have been on the other side. Thank god there wasn’t any car beside us at the time or we would not have been able to get over to the other lane.
My boyfriend layed on the horn so she would quit looking at the wreck sight and get back in her own lane and quit crossing over not paying attention to the road and what is beside her.
This is how wrecks happen. Little Green VW. I am sure she scared a few other people behind us.
My sympathies are certainly with the families involved. I do feel things could have been handled differently afterwards. The accident occurred at 3:45. I passed the exit for Delaware/Sunbury at 5 pm. There were no signs, no officers, and no indication that an accident was ahead. I ended up sitting in traffic for nearly 2 hours with a hungry 7 year old in the car. I had no way to turn around and no way to go forward. In the future, it would be helpful for both other drivers and officers at the scene if someone were directing traffic from further back.
The car was hit by a Semi and the driver ws killed. It probably took that long just to get his/her body out of the mangled car. Why subject drivers to that sight? Im sure that is why they closed the highway. It is also respectful to the person killed.
closed a 3 or 4 lane highway for several hours for a one-car crash? Are the police around here that incompetent that they can’t clean a lane or two while the ‘investigation’ goes on??
Of course, they did let a kid rot in jail for 2 years for killing his brother without doing an investigation. He didn’t do it, and a 1st grader playing cops and robbers could’ve figured that out.
Open the highway, these things shouldn’t take that long. And yes, my sincerest condolences to that family.
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