Lt. Gov. Tim Murray Survives Serious Crash On I-190 In Sterling
BOSTON (CBS) - Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray was in a car accident early Wednesday morning in Sterling.
He was not seriously hurt, but his vehicle - a state-issued Ford – was totaled. State Police say the car has a value of about $9,000.
Read: Police Report (.pdf)
At the State House later in the morning, Murray told reporters he was driving alone up Interstate 190 to look at storm damage and was headed back south when he hit a patch of ice on the road around 5:30 a.m.
WBZ-TV's Jim Anderson reports
His car rolled over.
Murray said he was wearing a seat belt, wasn't speeding and was not under the influence of anything.
"For everyone's protection and to ensure that nobody could question, I asked them for a field breath test and they had to call another state police trooper who had that to come and I blew that with a 0.00, so there was no alcohol involved," he said.
State Police spokesman David Procopio released a statement saying in part:
"There is no evidence to suggest the operator was speeding. There was no evidence of any causation factor other than the road condition. All the evidence indicates the cause of the crash was ice on the roadway."
Murray lives in Worcester, which is 12 miles from the accident scene.
So why was he out so early?
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports
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He said it's "not uncommon for me to wake up early, go grab a coffee, (and) pick up a (Boston) Herald, which doesn't deliver to Worcester."
Murray said he had planned to pick up coffee on the way home from his storm damage tour.
Because of the accident, Murray missed a morning event at Northeastern University.
He was back at the State House for the Governor's Council meeting.
