Fatal Crash at I-495 Braddock Exit

A fatal crash occurred at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, involving a box truck in the northbound lanes of I-495 at Exit 54/Braddock Road.

After the accident, Richard L. Edwards, 24, of Woodbridge, was taken to Fairfax Inova Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision. 

Virginia State Police responded to the scene of the two-vehicle crash at 2:30 p.m. in the northbound lanes of I-495 at Braddock Road, in Fairfax County. Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for VSP, said that a Edwards was driving a box truck north on I-495 and did not stop in time for a work zone safety vehicle that stopped in the right travel lane.

"The vehicle was part of an ongoing work zone. The box truck rear-ended the crash-cushion work zone vehicle, which caused the driver of the box truck to lose control. The box truck then ran off the road and struck the Jersey wall," Geller described the incident in a news release. 

The driver of the work zone safety vehicle did not have any injuries. He did go to a hospital as a precaution.

Cars were backed up about 1.5 miles at about 5:15 p.m., extending to I-395 southbound, according to the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination (MATOC) Program.

Flyover Ramp Accident Minutes Earlier

Meanwhile, at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, a tractor-trailer overturned on the westbound I-495 to I-95 HOV south flyover ramp. No injuries were reported in that crash. Two lanes on the ramp were re-opened at 3:44 p.m. The reversible HOV lane was blocked at about 5:15 p.m. according to MATOC.

Police charged a Woodbridge man after they say his truck hit a cement wall and debris spilled all over Interstate 495. 

Hector Y. Lopez-Navarro, 41, of Woodbridge, is charged with reckless driving. There were two accidents involving Woodbridge residents on I-495 in the space of five minutes.  

Virginia State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash Tuesday at 2:25 p.m. on the westbound I-495 ramp, leading to the southbound I-95 HOV lanes, VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

"As a tractor-trailer came through the flyover ramp, it ran off the left side of the road and struck the Jersey wall. The open-top trailer overturned onto the cement wall which caused it to spill its load into the westbound I-495 lanes below," Geller described the incident in a news release. 

The truck was loaded with miscellaneous construction and household materials. that spilled at least a foot deep across the westbound I-495 lanes. The Virginia State Police Motor Carrier Safety Team placed the truck out of service after citing multiple equipment violations, Geller said.