Utility worker dead in vehicle accident

A contracted utility worker in the area to assist with restoring power after last weekend’s severe weather lost her life in a multiple vehicle crash on Route 7 Tuesday night near Bluemont.

Jacqueline R. Green, 57, of Milton, FL, was driving a 2004 Freightliner bucket truck pulling a service trailer northbound on Blue Ridge Mountain Road around 7:20PM when it appears there were issues with the brakes on the vehicle.

According to witnesses, the Freightliner proceeded into the southbound lane of Blue Ridge Mountain Road, steering to the left and passing the first truck in a convoy of utility vehicles. Green continued down the hill towards the intersection with Route 7. Witness accounts indicate that the Freightliner came into the eastbound lanes of Route 7 where the driver struck a 2008 Freightliner trucktractor-semitrailer.

The combination vehicle was pushed into the side of an eastbound 2012 Toyota Tacoma.

Green lost her life at the scene. A front seat passenger in the bucket truck, Jonathan Powell, of Florida, was transported to Winchester Medical Center.

The driver of the pick-up and her juvenile passenger were taken to Inova Loudoun Hospital-Cornwall Campus where they were treated and released. The driver of semitrailer was also taken to INOVA Loudoun Hospital-Cornwall Campus.

Preliminarily, members of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit are looking into issues with the brakes on the utility truck as witness accounts indicated that it appeared that Green lost control of the vehicle’s brakes on the downhill grade and that the vehicle had been picking up speed as it continued downhill.

Green was driving in a convoy of three Gulf Power (FL) trucks in the area as part of a mutual aid agreement assisting Dominion Virginia Power crews. The three trucks were headed to a staging area near the southwest corner of the intersection.

Route 7 was closed for over 10 hours with the investigation and recovery effort. Investigation into the incident continues with units from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Safety Unit.