Motor Vehicle Crash

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire – On Friday, November 10, 2023, at approximately 2:00 p.m., New Hampshire State Police Troop A was notified of a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 95 South, near mile marker 14.8, in the City of Portsmouth.  One of the involved vehicles was reported as a tractor-trailer that had overturned and was now blocking several lanes of travel.  Responding Troopers located a 2016 Honda Pilot that was disabled in the southbound lanes adjacent to a 2012 Freightliner tractor with an enclosed 30-foot trailer that was lying overturned and perpendicular to the roadway so that it was blocking both a northbound and southbound lane. 

Preliminary investigation revealed that the Honda Pilot, being operated by a 16-year-old driver, from Amesbury, Massachusetts entered I-95 South from the Exit 7 on-ramp.  This operator merged onto the highway into the path of the Freightliner, causing its operator, Luis Vasquez, age 46, of Haverhill, Massachusetts to take evasive actions. This resulted in the Freightliner striking the center dividing guardrail causing the truck and trailer to overturn.  Neither driver, nor the juvenile passengers of the Honda Pilot sustained injuries as a result of this crash.  

A portion of Interstate 95 was closed for approximately five hours while emergency personnel worked to investigate and clear the incident scene.  Troop A were assisted on scene by Troop G, the Portsmouth Police Department, the Portsmouth Fire Department, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and National Wrecker Service.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Trooper First Class Harrison Walters at Harrision.E.Walters@dos.nh.gov.