Draft:1983 Stratford, Connecticut Tollbooth accident

• Comment: Parts of the article, such as the background section, are unsourced. One of the citation has a duplicated name as well. Cowboygilbert - (talk) ♥ 02:01, 14 August 2024 (UTC)

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1983 Stratford, Connecticut Tollbooth accident

Date	19 January 1983 (1983-01-19)
Time	15:00
Location	Stratford, Connecticut, United States
Deaths	7
Non-fatal injuries	3

On January 19, 1983, a semi tractor-trailer truck carrying a load of sweet potatoes crashed into a line of cars waiting to pay the toll at the Stratford, Connecticut toll plaza on the Connecticut Turnpike. The cause is disputed, but either the truck's brakes had failed or its driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.

The crash led to an explosion that incinerated four cars, all of which included women and children. Six were killed immediately, with one of the children critically injured, remaining on life support for the purposes of organ donation, until succumbing to his injuries the next day.

Another boy involved in the accident, Mark Piscitelli, was heard screaming and was subsequently pulled from one of the cars by an employee at the toll plaza just before it exploded.

Background

The Connecticut Turnpike, when opened in 1958, utilized a barrier toll system, with mainline tollbooths at eight locations: Greenwich, Norwalk, Stratford, West Haven, Branford, Madison, Montville, and Plainfield. This was unlike other toll roads of the time such as the New Jersey Turnpike, Massachusetts Turnpike, New York State Thruway, and Pennsylvania Turnpike which utilized (and still do) closed-toll ticketing systems. In addition, construction of the Connecticut Turnpike begun in 1954, prior to the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, so it was not subject to the guidelines laid out for the future Interstate Highway System to which the Connecticut Turnpike was grandfathered into.

Over time the Connecticut Turnpike toll system was a serious point of contention, with traffic congestion, accidents, and air pollution at the toll plazas occurring at an increasing rate from the 1970s onward.

Aftermath

Criminal Prosecution

On April 10, 1984, the driver of the truck, Charles Kluttz, then 35 years old, was tried and convicted of seven counts of negligent homicide. He was sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of $1,000. Testimony revealed he may have approached the toll plaza at a speed of 60 mph (97 km/h).

Removal of tolls from Connecticut Turnpike

This accident is often cited as the principal reason behind the removal of the toll plazas on the Connecticut Turnpike in 1985, and then eventually their removal from the remainder of Connecticut's highways by 1989. In the ensuing aftermath, anti-toll protests, which had already been ongoing particularly in Fairfield County, where three of the toll plazas were located, hit a fever pitch.

However, the crash being the chief cause for the tolls' removal is somewhat disputed, as Connecticut had paid off its bonds used to build the Turnpike by 1986, and in addition, Federal Highway guidelines had stated that the Connecticut Turnpike would only be eligible for federal funding if the toll booths were removed.

On July 16, 1983, six months after the accident, governor William O'Neill signed legislation to end tolling on the Connecticut Turnpike by the end of 1985. He has already planned to do this the prior year, but had held off due to needed funds to repair the Mianus River Bridge collapse that occurred on June 28 that year. This movement was headed primarily by Fairfield County residents, who had long complained of traffic congestion, pollution, and accidents.

Toll collection ultimately ended on October 9, 1985, moved up from December 31 that year, due to another fatal accident at the Stratford toll where one person was killed.

See also

• Connecticut Turnpike

References

{{Road incidents in the United States}}

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