'Along came this gray blur'
Driver tells of crash that closed X-way
When James Devereaux came to a quick stop on the Southeast Expressway yesterday morning without smashing into the car in front of him, he thought the danger had passed.
The worse was yet to come.
"The guy in front of me and the guy behind, all three of us came to a stop," the Nahant resident said. "We thought we were doing OK, but along came this gray blur from the right side."
That blur turned out to be a tractor-trailer sliding on its side after the driver lost control in trying to avoid colliding with a black Jeep sport utility vehicle whose driver had cut the truck off around 7:30 a.m., State Police said.
The truck, driven by John Michael, 54, of Brockton, dumped its load of clay slurry onto the southbound lanes of the expressway and struck four passenger vehicles, including the Jeep and Devereaux's 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe.
The crash shut down the southbound expressway for about four hours, backing up traffic onto the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge and slowing northbound traffic as drivers stopped to gawk or had to be directed out of the northbound high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lane.
Mac Daniel, Turnpike Authority spokesman, said traffic never came to a complete stop because State Police diverted drivers onto Boston's streets.
The truck came to a rest just after the Neponset Circle offramp (Exit 12), and police cited David E. Baxter, 41, of Boston, for making an unsafe lane change and failure to use care in stopping, said State Police Lieutenant Eric Anderson.
Baxter and Devereaux were taken to Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester for treatment of minor injuries. Baxter could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The drivers of the two other cars were identified by police as Annaz Bajunid, 35, of Medford and Thomas Fish, 58, of Stoughton. Fish declined medical care. Bajunid and Michael were taken to Boston Medical Center with minor injuries.
Michael was driving for Beaver Trucking of Bridgewater, which could not be reached for comment. Anderson, the State Police spokesman, said Michael handled the crisis as best he could.
"At first glance, the truck driver did a good job," he said. "I don't think there are any issues with the truck. He just tried to avoid a crash. . . . The Jeep, in order to avoid the slowing traffic, cut in front of the tractor-trailer and unfortunately caused the crash."
The cab of the truck slid into the flexible concrete barriers used to create the HOV lane, but somehow avoided colliding with cars that became trapped inside the HOV lane, police said.
Devereaux said he could not remember exactly what happened after the truck slammed into his car, but recalled grabbing his cellphone and stepping outside his vehicle. Civilians and Boston firefighters were soon on the scene, checking on other drivers and helping Michael clamber out of the cab of his overturned truck.
Among those was Cape Cod firefighter and paramedic David Ferola, who was behind the truck and said he saw the Jeep cut into the tractor-trailer's path.
"He cut right in front of the 18-wheeler, and when that load shifted, it was all over," said Ferola. "It was like a 'Die Hard' movie. There was gravel and metal, and it was so incredibly loud."
