Boston – Manhole Cover Crashes Into Windshield, Killing Boston Driver

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    Photo shows the windshield window damaged from the manhole cover(Courtesy FOX Boston)Boston – A manhole cover weighing more than 200 pounds crashed through a windshield, killing a woman as she drove on a major Boston highway during the Friday morning commute, authorities said.

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    The manhole cover in the left lane of Interstate 93 south became dislodged and went airborne just before 8 a.m., state police spokesman David Procopio said.

    The death prompted an inspection of hundreds of other manhole covers around the city.

    After the cover struck the driver’s windshield, her Honda SUV continued forward before striking a wall on the left shoulder of the highway and coming to a stop, he said.

    It’s unclear what caused the manhole cover to become dislodged. State police and state Department of Transportation officials are investigating.

    The victim’s name was being withheld until her family could be notified.

    Two lanes of the highway were shut down during the investigation, backing up traffic.

    In response to the death, state transportation workers were sent out to check about 500 manhole covers, grates and utility panels in the travel lanes of highways around the Boston area “out of an abundance of caution,” Highway Administrator Thomas Tinlin said. He warned drivers to be prepared for lane closures during the inspections.

    He said any unsecured hardware discovered would be welded into place.

    Depending on what is found, the inspections could be expanded to outside the Boston area.

    The manhole cover that killed the woman covers a storm drainage system and was last inspected in June 2014, Tinlin said. There was no indication the cover had been removed recently, he said.
    A police vehicle is parked in front of a manhole cover at the Thomas P. O’Neill Tunnel on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 in Boston. The manhole cover that weighs more than 200 pounds killed a woman when it flew up in the air and crashed through her windshield as she drove on the Boston highway Friday morning, authorities said.  (Steve Annear/The Boston Globe via AP)


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