Crime & Safety
Franconia Woman Dies in I-81 Car Crash
Sharon L. Tate of Crossgate Lane died in a car accident Thursday afternoon.
Local resident Sharon L. Tate of Crossgate Lane in Franconia died Thursday afternoon in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 in southwestern Virginia, according to Virginia State Police.
Tate was driving her 2006 Ford Escape SUV shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday heading southbound on I-81 in Pulaski County when the driver of a tractor-trailer behind her swerved to avoid hitting cars stopped because of a lane closure. The lane was closed due to bridge construction, VSP said.
The tractor-trailer swerved to the left to avoid the stopped traffic and hit Tate's car, sending the SUV into the rear of another tractor-trailer that had stopped ahead of her, police said.
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Tate, 47, died at the scene. She was the only person in the SUV.
The crash shut down Interstate 81 for eight hours and caused a five-mile back-up, according to local news reports.
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Neither the driver of the striking tractor trailer nor the driver of the tractor tailer hit by Tate's car were injured.
Manrajbir Singh Kang, 45, of Ashburn, the driver of the tractor trailer that hit the SUV, has been charged with reckless driving.
The roads reopened at approximately 9 p.m. Thursday.
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