A 52-year-old man died after his car struck a VDOT contractor vehicle on eastbound Interstate 64 in York County, according to state police.
The crash happened at mile marker 237 on eastbound I-64, according to The Virginian-Pilot, which reported that state police responded to the scene in York County. Investigators say the man's car hit the VDOT contractor vehicle, which was moving slowly in the left lane with its emergency lights on at the time.
That VDOT vehicle was following a construction crew that was setting something out, per the same account. Despite the visible lights and the slow pace of the work vehicle, the car struck it, touching off a chain of events that ended in the man's death.
Investigation Still Open
Tyrique Gilliam died at the scene following the crash. As of the newspaper's reporting, the crash remained under investigation, with no additional details released about what led the car into the path of the slow-moving contractor vehicle.
This is far from the first time a VDOT vehicle has been struck while working along I-64 in the region. Just months earlier, a VDOT contractor was seriously injured after being hit by a car while working on I-64 in Newport News, according to WTKR. That crash happened around 3:30 p.m. on May 2 near Exit 256A on westbound I-64, when a contractor who was setting up cones behind a patrol vehicle was struck by a black sedan.
A Pattern of Close Calls on I-64
Work-zone crashes involving VDOT crews have cropped up repeatedly along the same stretch of highway. Two separate crashes involving a VDOT vehicle and a Virginia State Police vehicle occurred along I-64 in the Newport News and Hampton areas on the same Thursday morning, according to WAVY. In one of those incidents, a Honda sedan struck a VDOT truck on westbound I-64 near Jefferson Avenue just before 7 a.m., while a second crash happened on westbound I-64 near Mercury Boulevard in Hampton around 6:50 a.m., the station reported.
The danger facing road crews is not just anecdotal. Virginia recorded more than 3,700 work-zone crashes in 2024 alone, resulting in over 1,500 injuries and 15 deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation, which has urged drivers to slow down and stay alert as they approach lane closures and work crews.
No further information about the circumstances of Wednesday's crash, including whether any charges have been filed, has been released. State police have not indicated when the investigation into Tyrique Gilliam's death might conclude.
