A semi-truck driver who crashed into the Wilmont Road overpass on the Hutchinson River Parkway in New Rochelle Thursday — the second major accident in a week — was charged for illegally using the parkway, county officials said.
A person driving a tractor trailer on the parkway crashed into and became wedged under the Wilmont Road overpass on Dec. 19, closing the right lane of traffic on the Hutch for several hours, according to Westchester County Police spokesperson Kieran O’Leary.
O’Leary didn’t have the identification of the motorist, he said.
The driver was issued summonses for unauthorized use of a restricted vehicle on the parkway, an over-height vehicle, and disobeying traffic control devices – including signs and pavement markings – that indicate which vehicles can’t enter the Hutch.
“Trucks and other commercial vehicles are prohibited from being on the parkway,” O’Leary said.
He said the truck contained “food products,” which the county Health Department came out to inspect, but he didn’t have a specific inventory of the food the driver was transporting.
The crash marks the second major one on the Hutch in less than a week.
The first, which was caused by a wrong-way driving, happened on Dec. 16 when Rye Brook’s former mayor crashed into a Connecticut family of five after getting on the northbound lanes driving south.
Five of the six people involved were seriously injured – especially Joan Feinstein, the 75-year-old ex-mayor who was transported to Westchester Medical Center in critical condition.
After the wrong-way driving accident, county officials said they would be assessing safety on the Hutchinson River Parkway – including whether or not the signage is sufficient on the roadway.