State police say a man has died after his car collided with a tractor-trailer early Thursday morning on the Merritt Parkway.

The collision occurred northbound near Exit 33 in Greenwich at around 6 a.m.

State police say the driver of the truck braked as he approached an overpass on the highway where tractor-trailers are not allowed, in part because of several low overpasses. After the truck driver stopped when he saw the oncoming overpass, the driver of the car behind it rear-ended him.

The driver,  62-year-old Akija Elezaj from Stamford, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the only person in the vehicle.

It is unclear why the tractor-trailer was on the parkway, but police did say that the driver was from out-of-state.

"The vehicles that are not allowed on the parkway are not allowed on the parkway for a very good reason," says Sgt. Robert Derry. "Today was one of those crashes that showed why they should not be on the parkway."

The incident shut down the northbound side of the highway between exits 31 and 33 for a few hours before reopening around 10:15 a.m.