Expert: Ice Likely Caused Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor’s Crash

A traffic safety expert says Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray’s high-speed car wreck in November was more likely caused by icy road conditions than the state police finding that Murray fell asleep.

Safety researcher Jeffrey Muttart reviewed crash data from the “black box” in Murray’s state-owned car at The Boston Globe’s request.

The Globe reports Muttart found that the lieutenant governor appeared to steer the car twice as it went out of control and that the speed of the wheels increased rapidly even though Murray wasn’t pressing the accelerator.

State police say Murray’s car was going more than 100 mph on Interstate 190 in Sterling when it went off the highway and rolled over. Murray wasn’t injured.

State police say they stand by their finding that Murray dozed off.