SUSSEX, Va. -- Two major accidents had all lanes of Interstate 95 near milemarker 30 in Sussex shut down for several hours on Tuesday.
The first accident happened around 3 a.m. when a tractor-trailer in the southbound lanes ran off the roadway, struck a guardrail and flipped over into the northbound lanes, according to Virginia State Police.
The driver, identified as 53-year-old Darrell Phillips of Delaware, was entrapped inside the tractor-trailer for a period of time, but troopers said he escaped uninjured.
Phillips was charged reckless driving and failure to maintain proper control of the vehicle.
The second accident happened in the northbound lanes of I-95 not longer after the first.
A Nissan Titan truck pulling an enclosed trailer carrying two motorcycles ran off the roadway and down into the Nottoway River, according to State Police.
Both the driver, identified as Christopher Smidt from New Jersey, and his passenger were able to get out of the truck before it completely sank into the river. Neither were injured, troopers said.
The Virginia State Police Search and Recovery Team were called to assist in recovering the vehicles from the water.
An investigation into the second accident is still ongoing.
