Two NYC truck drivers died in separate accidents on the same road hours apart

The NYPD says that two tractor-trailer drivers died in separate accidents on the same road in Queens on Wednesday. The accidents happened less than a mile apart.

The incident occurred at around 2:50 in the morning when a car traveling in the opposite direction on Grand Avenue near 57th Street in Maspeth hit and killed Chad Hallenbeck, 49, who had just gotten out of his truck.

Before coming to a stop in the middle of the street, the driver of the Chevy sedan veered across the double yellow line, striking both Hallenbeck and the tractor-trailer.

Hallenbeck, a resident of East Durham, New York, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman, who was driving the sedan and was 43 years old, was transferred to Elmhurst Hospital with a few minor injuries. No charges were immediately filed as investigators tried to determine what caused her to lose control.

Several hours later, about 10:40 a.m., Stephen Roy Bennington, 50, was driving his rig when he lost control of it and drove into a street post on Grand Avenue near Borden Avenue. This incident occurred approximately one mile east of the prior accident.

Bennington, a resident of Croydon, Pennsylvania, was behind the wheel, unconscious and suffering from several injuries, when emergency personnel arrived on the scene. He was taken by ambulance to Elmhurst Hospital, but he passed away shortly after.

The police are looking into the possibility that he had a medical issue just before colliding with the pole.