Richmond-Area Woman, 24, Died In Lorton I-95 Crash: State Police

LORTON, VA — The Virginia State Police on Friday released the name of the driver who died Wednesday morning in a collision with an Amazon Prime tractor-trailer on Interstate 95. Her name is Krista M. Kelley, 24, of Henrico County, a suburb of Richmond, the state police said.

The collision occurred at about 7 a.m. The 18-wheeler had pulled over onto the right shoulder of southbound I-95, at mile marker 163 near Lorton Road in Fairfax County, the state police said.

Kelley was driving a 2014 Toyota Corolla south on I-95 when the car ran off the right side of the highway and into the rear of the tractor-trailer, sliding under the back of the rig. She died at the scene, the state police said.

The tractor-trailer's driver, an unidentified man, was not injured in the crash, which remains under investigation, the state police said.

Preventing 'Underrides'

Deadly crashes like Wednesday's collision, known as "underrides," have prompted calls on Capitol Hill for ways to prevent such accidents, according to WUSA-TV Channel 9.

The U.S. Congress is considering the Stop Underrides Act, a bill introduced in March, but the trucking industry opposes the measure, the TV station reported.

Advocates for the Stop Underrides Act staged a series of crash tests in March in the parking lot of Audi Field, the soccer stadium in the District, to demonstrate how safety devices mounted under 18-wheelers could prevent such collisions, WUSA9 reported.

In addition, Virginia officials are conducting a study of I-95 on ways to improve safety and prevent traffic jams on the busy highway, with the findings to be presented next year to the state legislature.

The study covers all of Virginia's 179-mile portion of I-95, from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria down to the North Carolina border. The officials will take feedback from the public later this month at meetings in Lorton, Fredericksburg and Petersburg.