Shelly Vilsaint's Range Rover collided with a tractor trailer contracted by the U.S. Postal Service in the westbound lanes around 12:35 a.m. near the Major Deegan Expressway, according to police and the New York Post.
Vilsaint was sitting in her car behind the trailer when another tractor trailer slammed into her vehicle, igniting a fire that spread to the first tractor trailer.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither truck driver was injured and the blaze was contained around 2 a.m., responders said.
Vilsaint was a special education teacher for New York City's public schools.
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