Enfield Man Killed In Seven-Vehicle Accident On I-84 In West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD/HARTFORD, CT — A horrendous, seven-vehicle accident involving three tractor trailers, a passenger bus and three passenger vehicles claimed the life of an Enfield man Monday morning.

According to Connecticut state police, the accident happened on Interstate 84 westbound in West Hartford at or near the city line with Hartford at about 4:56 a.m. Monday.

The crash claimed the life of Gary Michael Carter, 58, of Taylor Road, Enfield.

According to the accident report released Monday afternoon, Carter was killed the day before he was supposed to turn 59.

State police said Carter was pronounced dead at the scene after the tractor trailer he was driving plowed into the back of a Connecticut Transit Bus that was stopped on the highway amid a traffic jam between exits 44 and 43.

No other accident victims were seriously injured, but five were transported to Hartford Hospital in several ambulances with suspected "minor injuries," police said in a report.

State police released an accident report Monday afternoon detailing what happened in the frightening incident.

According to state police, a Connecticut Transit Bus operating out of Hartford and being driven by a 63-year-old Vernon man was stopped in traffic in the right-center lane of four lanes on I-84 west due to a traffic jam.

That's when a 2017 Volvo tractor trailer, owned by R.C. Moore Inc. out of Scarborough, Maine, and being driven by Carter, apparently plowed into the back of the bus, police said.

Police said, "for an unknown reason," Carter was unable to stop his tractor trailer in time.

According to the report, Carter was pronounced dead at the scene.

This initial collision, according to police, caused significant damage to five other vehicles in the traffic jam.

The other vehicles involved were damaged by multiple-impact collisions caused by the initial crash between the tractor trailer and the bus.

None of the injuries in the other vehicles were serious and two others checked out declined any treatment.

Among the other vehicles involved were: A 2017 Toyota Rav 4 driven by a 65-year-old East Hartford man; a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Sport driven by a 23-year-old Chaplin woman; a U.S. Postal Service tractor trailer being driven by a 54-year-old Windsor man; a 2006 Honda Civic being driven by a 36-year-old Waterbury man with a 46-year-old male passenger from Waterbury; and a 2016 FedEx Freight Inc. tractor trailer being driven by a 44-year-old, East Orange, N.J., man.

Police said all of the vehicles had to be towed from the scene, with I-84 closed for much of the day.

As of 4:10 p.m., the road was cleared and traffic was moving again in that area of the interstate, with state Department of Transporation officials reporting the wreck was cleared at about 2 p.m.

Police said the accident remains under investigation and it's asking the public for help.

Any witness to the collision is asked to contact Trooper Michael Dean at Troop H in Hartford at 860-534-1098 or via email at michael.dean@ct.gov. This is especially so for any motorists who may have captured the crash on a dashboard camera, police said.

For the full, three-page state police accident report, click on this link.