A man died early Saturday after his vehicle collided with an 18-wheeler on the Pontchartrain Expressway in New Orleans, shutting down all westbound lanes near the Tchoupitoulas exit during the overnight hours. Police say the crash happened around 2 a.m., and the driver of the car was found dead at the scene.
According to WDSU, the New Orleans Police Department deployed a drone to assist investigators. After the lanes reopened, congestion remained minimal on US 90B West.
A Stretch of Roadway With a History of Deadly Wrecks
Saturday's crash is far from the first fatal collision to snarl the Pontchartrain Expressway near the Tchoupitoulas exit. In January 2023, a crash in that same area caused major delays into the Central Business District, according to fox8live.com, which at the time pointed commuters toward Airline Highway, the Earhart Expressway, and Claiborne Avenue as alternate routes while the roadway was tied up.
Other crashes along the expressway have proven even deadlier. One report from the station documented a three-vehicle wreck on westbound US 90 that killed one motorist and injured two other drivers after a Ford Explorer stalled in the middle lane shortly after 2:30 a.m. In a separate incident near the same exit, a stalled Ford Explorer was struck by a Chevrolet Malibu, which was then hit by a third vehicle; the deceased occupant of the Explorer had not yet been identified pending an autopsy and notification of family, the station reported.
Multiple Fatalities Have Struck the Corridor Before
The Pontchartrain Expressway has seen more than one fatal crash cluster in recent years. A report from nola.com described two motorists killed in separate wrecks on the upriver-bound expressway early one Saturday — one when a taxicab hit a guardrail near the Claiborne Avenue exit just after midnight, killing the 44-year-old driver, and another near the City Park Avenue exit, where a woman who had exited her struck vehicle was then fatally hit by a passing vehicle.
A 2019 crash near Camp Street also shut down eastbound traffic at Tchoupitoulas Street after a driver was ejected from his vehicle and then struck by another car, with lanes reopening around 7 a.m., per fox8live.com's earlier coverage. Saturday's crash adds to the grim history of deadly wrecks along the roadway.
No further details on the cause of Saturday's crash or the identity of the driver who died have been released. NOPD's investigation remains ongoing.
