Virginia State Police said an SUV was trying to pass a tractor-trailer that was hauling cattle and collided with it, leading to a crash that left nearly a dozen cattle dead.
The incident happened Monday on the well-traveled — and often dangerous — Interstate 81 in Augusta County. According to several local media reports, the impact from the Lincoln Nautilus caused the Kenworth W900 tractor-trailer to veer to the right and hit another vehicle.
All three vehicles involved ended up running off the road, and the tractor-trailer hauling the cattle flipped upside down. On Tuesday, state police revealed that 11 cows were killed (authorities referred to the bovines as cows).
Several cattle also escaped, and Augusta County Animal Control was on site to help address the situation.
TV station WCYB said that police cited Lincoln-driver Tonya S. Cleveland, 56, of Verona, Virginia, with making and unsafe lane change. She was not injured. The tractor-trailer driver had minor injuries, and the driver of the third vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder, was uninjred.
Many tractor-trailers use Interstate 81 due to its north-south orientation that connects it from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. According to the Smith Law Center, I-81 sees almost two crashes per day.
