ORANGE, CT — A wrong-way driver died early Thursday following a head-on collision on Route 34 near the Merritt Parkway interchange.
Orange police were notified at about 1:33 a.m. of a dark-colored Honda Civic traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of the divided roadway.
While on the phone with dispatchers, a witness reported the Honda had crashed head-on with a BMW SUV near the intersection with Baldwin Road.
The driver and sole occupant of the 2022 Honda Civic had to be extricated from the car with assistance from the Orange Volunteer Fire Department and was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
He is not being identified pending family notifications.
The second vehicle, a 2024 BMW X1, contained four occupants who were all transported to Yale with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The eastbound side of Derby Avenue was closed for about three hours while investigators processed the crash scene.
All lanes were reopened by 5 a.m.
The witness remained on scene and is assisting with the investigation.
