A 41-year-old woman was killed when her vehicle struck a tractor-trailer rig on the southeast side, Tucson police said.
Officers responded to the crash shortly after 7:30 a.m. Thursday in the 9200 block of E. Old Vail Road. The driver of a white 2018 Ford Escape, Nola Rene Simonsen, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Detectives determined Simonsen was traveling east on Old Vail Road when her SUV struck a 2017 tractor-trailer rig that was backing into a business located at 9290 E. Old Vail Road, near South Rita Road. The front of Simonsen's vehicle struck the trailer and went partially underneath it, police said.
The rig was blocking the eastbound lane on Old Vail Road as its driver was backing up, and police are trying to determine why the crash occurred. The road is one lane in each direction and has a center multipurpose lane, police said.
A DUI officer determined the rig driver was not impaired, police said.
The investigation is ongoing and no charges or citations have been filed.
