– Incidents halt traffic on Interstate
– Traffic incidents on Interstate 81.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
MARTINSBURG — Commuters on Interstate 81 experienced significant delays on Wednesday evening due to three separate incidents that occurred along the highway.
At approximately 6:40 p.m., the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department received a distress call regarding a male individual threatening to jump off the Hammonds Mill Bridge over I-81. Deputies promptly responded to the scene, temporarily slowing down traffic to investigate the situation. However, upon their arrival, no signs of a suicidal male were found, and the interstate was reopened within minutes.
Shortly after, at 6:53 p.m., authorities located an individual matching the description of the reported suicidal jumper at Sheetz in Hammonds Mill. The male, identified as 35-year-old Joseph S. Jiminez, was taken into custody without incident. It was discovered that Jiminez had an existing warrant from the Martinsburg City Police for destruction of property.
However, the traffic disruptions did not end there. As the interstate reopened, a devastating collision occurred between a tractor-trailer and a blue sedan traveling northbound near Mile Marker 15. The impact resulted in the ejection of the sedan’s driver and the subsequent collision of the tractor-trailer with the driver’s side of a white SUV. The force of the collision caused the tractor-trailer to overturn onto its side.
The driver of the blue sedan was immediately rushed to Berkeley Medical Center and later transferred via life flight to a nearby shock trauma medical center in critical condition. As the investigation into the crash is still ongoing, the victim’s identity has not yet been released.
In response to the incident, a press release from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department expressed sympathy and extended thoughts and prayers to the driver and their family.
Adding to the already chaotic situation, at around 7 p.m., a tanker truck overturned near Mile Marker 15, further complicating the traffic flow. It took several hours to clear the wreckage and make the highway safe for travel again, with the interstate reopening at 2:03 a.m. on Thursday.
Interstate 81, spanning 856 miles from Tennessee to New York, poses significant dangers, particularly during its 26-mile stretch in West Virginia. From January 1, 2020, to July 15, 2021, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department recorded over 400 crashes involving more than 700 vehicles and 850 individuals. These accidents resulted in 125 notable injuries and tragically claimed the lives of nine individuals.
Considered one of the top eight trucking routes in the United States, Interstate 81 was originally designed to accommodate just 15% of tractor-trailer traffic. However, recent data reveals that tractor-trailers now account for 20-30% of the overall traffic on this roadway.
These frequent incidents and the high volume of trucking traffic highlight the urgent need for enhanced safety measures and increased enforcement along this critical transportation route.
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1. Incidents halt traffic on Interstate
2. Incidents on Interstate 81 causing traffic halt.
