WASHINGTON — A man is dead after his car slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer and remained lodged underneath it on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway Thursday night.
The collision happened on Interstate 495 at Seminary Road before Georgia Avenue, at 11:50 p.m., said Maryland State Police.
Reza Zati of Jessup, Maryland was driving a 2004 Honda Civic “at a high rate of speed,” according to police, when his car struck the rear of the vehicle in front of him, a 2012 Volvo semitruck pulling a 2005 Great Dane trailer.
Zati continued to drive his car under the trailer and struck the vehicle’s B-pillar.
The driver of the semitruck, Syed Talib Raza of Manassas, Virginia, felt the impact and pulled over on the shoulder of the road. The driver then found the car lodged under the trailer.
Zati was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:10 a.m. Friday. He was the only person in the car.
Police said it is yet unknown if alcohol or drug impairment are involved in the collision.
State Highway Administration closed two lanes of traffic during the crash.
