Tuscaloosa, AL : Highway 43 shut down after fatal crash on April, Tuesday 4th 2017

A motorcycle rider was killed in a head-on collision with a Tuscaloosa Police vehicle early Tuesday morning.

The crash happened on U.S. Highway 43 North at 5:37 a.m., right around TPD’s shift change. Mitchell Blake, 52, of Coker, was killed in the crash.

TPD identified the injured officer as Capt. Melvin Green, who was on his way to work. Green is commander of TPD’s west precinct and has worked for the department 29 years.

“Our condolences go to the family of the deceased,” TPD spokeswoman Lt. Teena Richardson wrote in a press release Tuesday afternoon.

Northport Police Department’s accident reconstruction unit is investigating.

“They’re taking photos and speaking with witnesses, and after a time they’ll have a determination of what caused the accident,” NPD Assistant Chief Keith Carpenter said.

He said one vehicle was traveling north, while the other was traveling south. It appeared that the motorcycle crossed the line over into the southbound lane before the crash.

The busy section of the highway was closed for several hours Tuesday morning after the crash and reopened at 10 a.m. Highway 43 was blocked from Tom Montgomery Road to the entrance of Clear Creek Colony. Northbound drivers were being detoured to Tom Montgomery Road, and southbound drivers were detoured onto Rose Boulevard.

“We want to determine what caused this tragedy, that way we can try to put things in place to hopefully keep more tragedies from happening,” Carpenter said.

Source :
Highway 43 shut down after fatal crash