Wrong-way driver killed in fiery crash on Interstate 290 in Northboro, Massachusetts

A wrong-way driver was killed in a crash on Interstate 290 in Northboro, Massachusetts late Wednesday night, police said.It's the latest in a series of tragic wrong-way crashes on highways in the state, which has been making efforts to prevent them.State police received several 911 calls just before 9 p.m. Wednesday about a wrong-way driver heading west on I-290 east in Northboro."When Troopers arrived on the scene, they found the wrong-way operator had crashed into another vehicle around mile marker 29," state police said in a statement.The Northboro fire department said both cars were on fire when they arrived, and police were trying to put out the flames."The driver and sole occupant of one of the vehicles escaped prior to the arrival of emergency personnel. That individual was transported by NFD ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries," Northboro fire said in a statement."Despite the valiant efforts of police officers and firefighters, the driver and sole occupant of the second vehicle could not be rescued. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene."State police confirmed that driver was the wrong-way driver. It took Northboro firefighters nearly an hour to remove that person from the car. The drivers have not been identified yet by authorities.The stretch of highway starting at Exit 28 was shut down for several hours for the investigation. It reopened early Thursday morning.Massachusetts is currently working on a "massive expansion" of its wrong-way driving prevention system in the wake of a State Police trooper's death on Route 1 in Lynnfield last month. Nearly a week after that crash, a wrong-way driver hit a state trooper's cruiser in Peabody along the same stretch of highway. Both the driver and trooper survived.On June 20, a driver who fled a traffic stop was killed in a wrong-way crash on Route 146 in Millbury, Massachusetts. The other driver had non-life-threatening injuries.A pilot program developed in 2022 installed wrong-way traffic detection systems on 16 highway ramps across Massachusetts. The state is now spending tens of millions of dollars to put the systems in 430 locations.