Charges pending after fatal crash on Coleman Bridge that left man trapped between pickup truck and trailer – The Virginian-Pilot

State police said charges have been filed against a 20-year-old Mathews woman who was involved in a fatal crash on the Coleman Bridge Saturday morning that led to traffic being diverted for more than four hours.

A 2019 GMC Sierra pickup truck experienced a mechanical problem shortly before 8 a.m. while pulling a trailer southbound on Route 17, according to a Monday news release from State Police spokesman Matthew Demlein.

The driver pulled over to the right shoulder and passenger Jose O. Salinas Estrada, 44, of Gloucester, got out to fix the problem.

At that moment, the woman from Mathews – driving a 2018 Kia Forte sedan – drove onto the right shoulder and struck the trailer and the truck.

Salinas Estrada was “pinned between the vehicle and the trailer” and died at the scene, Demlein wrote. The driver of the Sierra, a 39-year-old woman from Gloucester, was uninjured, while the driver of the Kia suffered minor injuries. The Daily Press and Virginian-Pilot are not naming the driver of the Kia because no charges have been filed.

The Coleman Bridge, which crosses the York River between Gloucester and York, has two lanes in each direction. Each direction also has a narrow one-lane shoulder.

There were conflicting reports Saturday about whether the trailer and pickup truck were both fully on the shoulder at the time of the collision. But “the final accident report states that both the trailer and vehicle were on the shoulder,” Demlein said in an email.

The accident and investigation caused major traffic problems in the area, according to a social media post from the Gloucester Sheriff’s Office Saturday morning. Traffic from Gloucester to York was rerouted via West Point.

The bridge was reopened early Saturday afternoon. The accident is still under investigation.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, [email protected]