Thursday, July 23, 2015

Driver killed and 4 injured when his car went out of control on I-495 near Wilmington, DE and landed upside down on the highway’s opposite side, where it was hit by another car


robin brown and Damian Giletto, THE NEWS JOURNAL 4:59 p.m. EDT July 23, 2015
 
 

Police ID man killed in I-495 crash with airborne car

A Wilmington man was killed Thursday and four people injured when his car went out of control on I-495 near Wilmington and landed upside down on the highway’s opposite side, where it was hit by another car, state police said.

Wilbert O. Mable, 35, was driving in the center lane of northbound I-495 at North Du Pont Highway (U.S. 13) shortly after 7 a.m. when his car swerved for unknown reasons into the center median, Master Cpl. Jeffrey R. Hale said.

Mable’s car hit a berm in the median, became airborne and overturned while in the air, landing on its roof in front of a southbound car driven by Michelle P. Nichols, 29, of Newark, Hale said.

Mable, who was trapped in the wreckage of his car, was pronounced dead at the scene, he said. His body was taken to the state Division of Forensic Sciences for autopsy.


One person was killed and four people were injured following a crash Thursday morning on I-495 just outside of Wilmington. 7/23/15 DAMIAN GILETTO/THE NEWS JOURNAL


Nichols and three children in her car’s back seat were treated at the scene by New Castle County paramedics and taken to Christiana Hospital, Hale said.
An 8-year-old boy was transferred to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, where he was admitted with serious injuries, Hale said.

Nichols was admitted to Christiana Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, he said.

Two of the children, a 5-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl, were treated there for minor injuries, he added.

Nichols was properly restrained, he said, and the children were using seat belts but not proper child-restraint devices. Mable also was properly restrained at the time of the crash, he said.

The highway was reopened 31/2 hours after the crash, Hale said.

Southbound traffic was diverted to Du Pont Highway (U.S.13) near Wilmington, causing massive delays as police and transportation officials asked motorists to avoid the crash area and find alternative routes.

The fatal crash remains under investigation by the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit, Hale said, but no charges will be filed.