Driver dies in fiery wrong-way crash
An 84-year-old man was killed late Wednesday when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 495 in Taunton and hit two cars, injuring five people, including two children, state police said. At 11:13 p.m., troopers from the state police barracks in Foxboro responded to reports of a wrong-way driver who had crashed on the northbound side of the highway, just north of Exit 9 in Taunton, near the Norton town line. Trooper Nicholas Martin found that Arnold Reda, 84, of Foxboro was driving a 2005 Toyota Camry north in the area of Exit 13 in Mansfield when he made a U-turn and began traveling south in the northbound lanes, state police said. The Camry crashed into a 2016 Mercedes GL450 driven by a 56-year-old man who had three passengers: a 42year-old woman and 12- and 10-year-old boys, all of Foxboro, police said. The Camry then struck a third vehicle, a 2003 Lincoln Towncar driven by a 58year-old Weymouth woman with a passenger, a 27-yearold woman from Foxboro, police said. Reda died at the scene as a result of injuries suffered in the crash, police said. The Lincoln’s driver was uninjured, but her passenger was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. The adults in the Mercedes were taken to Rhode Island Hospital and the boys were transported to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, all with non-lifethreatening injuries, police said. State police are investigating why Reda turned into oncoming traffic.