Interstate 95 (I-95)

Police looking for dump truck that struck I-95 overhead sign in Fairfax County, drove off

Traffic camera video of the collision showed the dump truck driving down the road with the movable truck bed raised as high as it could go -- high enough to hit the traffic signs over that part of I-95.

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Dump trucks are meant to clean up messes -- but a truck driving down I-95 in Fairfax County created one when the fully-raised dump bed slammed into an overhead sign.

Debris in the northbound lanes of I-95, near mile marker 168, slowed down traffic starting just after noon on Thursday and brought Virginia State Police officers to that part of the road.

When police arrived at the scene just south of Route 289 in Fairfax County, they discovered the cause: an unknown dump truck driving north in the left lane of the interstate.

Traffic camera video of the collision showed the dump truck driving down the road with the movable truck bed raised as high as it could go -- high enough to hit the traffic signs over that part of I-95.

The truck then drove away from the scene.

The crash caused "significant damage" to the traffic signs, and sent debris into the three right lanes of the road, according to police.

No injuries were reported in relation to the crash.

The resolution of the traffic camera video is too low for authorities to read the license plate or the DOT number on the truck. Virginia State Police are asking that anyone with information about the incident call authorities at 804-759-8798, in the hopes they can identify the truck.

Crews from the Virginia Department of Transportation are working to repair the support and the overhead signs that were damaged.

Thursday's incident is far from the first time an overhead collision stopped traffic. Back in May, a dump truck with the bed fully raised collided with an overhead ramp on I-66.

After that crash, the Virginia Department of Transportation told News4 that kind of bridge strike happens far too often in Northern Virginia and need to stop. 

There have been an average of eight serious bridge strikes over the past four years, VDOT said, and the majority are construction vehicles improperly loaded or with raised beds.

Lanes were still closed on that part of I-95 more than five hours later.

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