Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The driver of a tanker truck that overturned on the northbound lanes of the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway just south of the American Legion Bridge Thursday afternoon causing a nightmare rush hour commute has been cited with reckless driving and defective brakes.
Virginia State Police said Weldon Harrison, 45, of Woodbridge was driving north and tried to brake as he saw traffic was slowing down. Instead he lost control of the tanker truck, struck a guardrail and overturned. Before hitting the guardrail the truck also hit two other vehicles. Another tried to stop but couldn’t and also hit the tanker. The driver of that vehicle was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The northbound lanes of the inner loop were closed for hours, leaving drivers scrambling to fine alternate routes.
About 200 gallons of the 8,500 gallons of unleaded fuel the tanker was carrying leaked onto the roadway. The rest had to be unloaded and pumped into another tanker truck before the damaged tanker could be brought upright and taken away.
Copyright 2019 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Virginia Department of Transportation)
