4 dead, 2 seriously hurt in wrong-way crash on Connecticut interstate

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - Four people died and two more were seriously hurt in a wrong-way crash on a Connecticut interstate Sunday morning, police said.

The crash happened on Interstate 95 South in West Haven near exit 42 at about 1:25 a.m., according to state police.

They identified the victims as 23-year-old Jolie Cierra Lubin of Trumbull, 22-year-old Samantha Pearl Birchard of Norwalk, 26-year-old Kyle Thomas Bulkley of New Haven and Husein Alili, 25, of Wolcott.

Police said the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, Bulkley, drove north the wrong way in the left lane and struck a Nissan Altima, the driver of which, Alili, was headed southbound. According to state police, after the initial crash, the truck entered the center lane and collided with a Nissan Sentra, whose driver also headed southbound.

Troopers said Bulkley and all three occupants of the Nissan Altima, which included Alili, Lubin and Birchard, died in the crash.

The two people in the Nissan Sentra, whom state police said were from New York, suffered life-threatening injuries and were taken to a hospital by ambulance.

“We want these crashes to stop. We do not want to see any more of these,” said Josh Morgan of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Morgan said the crash marked the state’s third deadly wrong-way crash this year.

The agency said it has been working to install new technology to offramps around the state in an effort to curb the crashes.

“The way the system works is if the vehicle is entering the highway in the wrong direction, that will activate the wrong-way flashing lights,” Morgan explained. “Those are bright red LED lights that will start flashing. If the driver does not stop, they continue onto the highway, that will trigger a second notification to us at the DOT so we can try to find the vehicle on the traffic cameras and also to Connecticut State Police so they can respond.”

Morgan said that the system will also alert the DOT and state police to the situation.

“There are 27 ramps in Connecticut that have the wrong-way detection technology installed. That number will be over 100 by the end of 2024,” Morgan said. “We are working as hard and as fast as we can to get this technology on as many ramps as possible.”

The highway was shut down for several hours immediately after the crash.

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