One person is dead and another critically injured after a car apparently going well over the speed limit drove off an I-95 ramp in Springfield, crashed into trees, landed on a separate highway ramp and collided with another vehicle on Monday (Nov. 14).
According to the Virginia State Police, which responded to the crash at 11:16 a.m., the incident began as 19-year-old Bryan Osorto-Tejeda of Fredericksburg drove a 2013 Honda Accord north on I-95, taking the ramp to go west on Franconia Road (Route 644) “at a high rate of speed.”
“The Honda then ran off the left side of the road, through the guardrail and became airborne,” the VSP said in a news release yesterday. “As it traveled, it struck several trees, overturned and landed on the ramp from Route 644 to I-395 north where it was struck by a 2018 Toyota Highlander which subsequently struck the jersey wall.”
Update: Both ramps expected to be closed for a few more hours. Continue to seek alternate routes. https://t.co/fEzpiKQjiK
— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) November 14, 2022
The Honda’s passenger — identified as Odaly Y. Hernandez, 19, of Woodbridge — died at the scene after being “ejected from the vehicle,” according to police, who say she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Osorto-Tejeda was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital with serious injuries. State police said he was also not wearing a seatbelt and got ejected from the car.
The driver and three passengers in the Toyota, including a 3-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy, were taken to a hospital to receive treatment for minor injuries, according to VSP. They were all wearing seatbelts or “age appropriate safety restraints,” in the case of the kids, police said.
“The preliminary investigation suggests the vehicle was traveling in excess of 100 mph,” VSP spokesperson Shelby Crouch told FFXnow.
The speed limit on I-95 and I-395 at the Route 644 interchange is 55 mph, according to VDOT’s speed limits map.
VSP says it is investigating “extreme speed” as a contributing factor and has charged Osorto-Tejeda with failure to maintain proper control.
Virginia classifies reckless driving as a Class 1 misdemeanor with a minimum fine of $250, but it can be elevated to a Class 6 felony if the person convicted had their driver’s license suspended or revoked at the time and the reckless driving directly caused a fatality.
There have been at least two other fatal crashes at the I-95/Route 644 interchange this year: one in May where a driver died after their vehicle caught fire and a hit-and-run in October, where an allegedly intoxicated driver killed a pedestrian whose car was disabled.
Image via Google Maps
