Massachusetts State Police investigating fatal three-vehicle crash on Route 495

A Massachusetts man is dead after a multi-vehicle highway crash.

According to Dave Procopio of Massachusetts State Police, at approximately 6:00 p.m. Thursday, patrols from the State Police-Concord Barracks responded to calls reporting a serious crash on Route 495 northbound in the area of mile marker 84 in Westford.

Upon arrival, Troopers came upon a three-car crash, part of which involved a tractor-trailer unit that had struck and overrode a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Westford Fire and EMS arrived on-scene and first responders began attempting to extricate the operator of the Tacoma.

The Tacoma operator, a 26-year-old Lawrence man, was determined to be deceased on scene. The operators of the other two vehicles were not injured.

Preliminary investigation indicates that a 2012 Volkswagen EOS was northbound in the right lane of Route 495, while a 2014 Freightliner tractor-trailer was northbound in the middle lane. A 2022 Toyota Tacoma was also traveling northbound in the same vicinity. 

For reasons still under investigation, the VW struck the front right of the Freightliner. 

The tractor-trailer exited the left side the roadway into the grassy median, then re-entered the road where it made contact with the Tacoma. The Toyota overturned and was overridden by the tractor-trailer.

The operators of the tractor-trailer and the VW were not injured.

The crash remains under investigation by the State Police-Concord Barracks with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and State Police Crime Scene Services Section. The left and center travel lanes of Route 495 were closed to facilitate recovery and cleanup.