State Police say a Troutville woman was killed Sunday when a wrong-way pickup truck struck her car on I-64 near Charlottesville. Troopers say 30-year-old Bethany Franklin was headed east in the eastbound lanes when the westbound pickup struck her car head-on. Both Franklin and the pickup driver were pronounced dead at the scene.
From Virginia State Police: At 6:04 a.m., Sunday (July 16, 2017), Virginia State Police were notified of a green pickup truck driving recklessly in the westbound lanes of Interstate 64 in Albemarle County. Several minutes later, a second report was called in about a green pickup truck in the Emergency Vehicle Crossover in the I-64 median. As state police were responding, the pickup truck drove through the crossover and began driving the wrong way in the eastbound lanes of I-64.
At 6:09 a.m., state police were notified of a head-on collision in the eastbound lanes of I-64 at the 114 mile marker in Albemarle County. The green Isuzu pickup truck was traveling west in the eastbound lane when it struck head-on an eastbound Hyundai sedan. The impact of that crash caused the vehicles to strike an eastbound Ford F-150 utility pickup truck.
The driver of the Isuzu, Winston J. Smith II, 32, of Staunton, Va., died at the scene. He was wearing a seatbelt. The driver of the Hyundai, Bethany M. Franklin, 30, of Troutville, Va., died at the scene. She was wearing a seatbelt. The adult male driver of the F150 pickup was transported to UVA Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The crash remains under investigation at this time.
