Driver Stopped To Use GPS Before Trooper Was Hit, Killed By Tanker Truck On I-93

BOSTON (CBS) - Hadijah Nalweyiso remembers the moment of impact just before midnight on I-93 in Stoneham Thursday, when a tractor trailer came barreling behind her. "Bam, it was out of nowhere. The driver lost control and next thing I knew he hit my car. That's the last thing I remember," Nalweyiso tells WBZ-TV.

She was struck along with Massachusetts State Police trooper Tamar Bucci, sending the trooper's vehicle into a stone wall. The trooper had just pulled over because Nalweyiso had her hazard lights on in the breakdown lane. She was on her way home and had stopped to plug a different route into her GPS, only later finding out the trooper had lost her life in that moment.

Nalweyiso is still trying to deal with the emotional and physical pain. "She didn't have to stop because she'd still be here right now," she said.

But Trooper Bucci did pull over not knowing if Nalweyiso needed help. She had joined the Medford barracks just last month and the force two years ago.

"Trooper Bucci gave her life helping another in distress. There's no greater act than to give one's life for another," said State Police Colonel Christopher Mason.

Rescuers had to deal with the hazards of a fully loaded tanker with ten-thousand gallons of gasoline, and at least two good Samaritans are credited with rushing in to help both drivers. "He was trying to get me out of the car asking me if I was okay," said Nalweyiso. "Everything else was just black."

She suffered several injuries but is now thinking of the trooper who tried to help her, and the truck driver she claims was out of control. "That trailer truck was at a high speed," Nalweyiso said. "We were in the breakdown lane why was he going so fast?"

Police say the truck driver was not injured and has been cooperative. No charges have been filed but the investigation is ongoing.