Waterbury woman dies in head-on Rt. 100 crash
March 1, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti This post was updated at 2:30 p.m. with additional information from Vt. State Police.
A Waterbury woman died in a head-on collision on Vermont Route 100 on Friday afternoon, according to Vermont State Police.
The crash happened around 1:30 p.m. near the traffic signal and intersection by the entrance to Billings Mobil and Shaw’s supermarket.
A report by Trooper Mae Murdock details that a vehicle driven by 56-year-old Penny Mandigo of Waterbury was traveling north on Rt. 100 when it crossed over the center line and into the path of a southbound truck where they collided head-on.
Mandigo, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced deceased at the scene, police said.
The initial investigation finds that the truck, a 2017 Western Star 4700, was southbound on Rt. 100 and had just traveled through the intersection near the gas station when the light turned green, Murdock’s report states.
Both vehicles came to a stop in the southbound lane and the resulting road closure slowed traffic for about three hours while emergency responders were on the scene.
Mandigo was driving a 2011 GMC Sierra that was totaled with front-end damage, police said.
The box-delivery truck also was totaled due to extensive front-end damage, police noted. The three-axle delivery truck was from a Chittenden County-based beer distributor and was near the end of its route heading back to the distribution facility; it was largely unladen, according to Lt. Thomas Howard at the Berlin barracks.
The truck driver, 41-year-old David J. Brier of St. Albans was unhurt.
The investigation into this incident is ongoing. Police say they are not clear on what caused Mandigo’s vehicle to veer as it did. The state medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to help determine the cause of death, Howard said.
Police encourage anyone who may have witnessed this or has information about this incident to contact Trooper Mae Murdock at the Berlin barracks: 802-229-9191 or submit an anonymous online tip here.
State Police were assisted by personnel from the Waterbury Fire Department, Waterbury Ambulance Service, and Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles.