Submitted by Block_Outside t3_zu4mu6 in Pennsylvania
I was driving on the turnpike and at 9:30 around mile marker 288 and a tractor trailer was flying by me going the wrong way. It was really scary stuff I called the police right away. Anyone have any info?
Wrong way drivers happen at night with alarming regularity.. Stay alert if you drive late. (Source :am night shift 911 dispatcher with a big piece of Route 15 in my coverage area)
But how on the Turnpike? Aren't opposing sides barriered off (they are on the Philly end anyway). I don't get west too often and forget if that's the case out near Pittsburgh. I guess I can check google maps.
There are barriers between the opposing directions the whole way (I'm pretty sure), except for the Tuscarora tunnel currently, since the east bound side is under repair.
It's pretty hard to go the opposite way on the turnpike. I don't know how this truck managed to do it without realizing he was going the wrong way.
They probably entered the turnpike via the off ramp instead of the on ramp. I almost did that once driving late at night. Luckily I realized my mistake before I got on the highway.
Yes, and now that you don't stop to pick up a ticket anymore, there are fewer clues you are going the wrong way.
Sure, you still have to miss a lot of things. But we can expect this to happen more often until they come up with new safety systems to make up for all the people and things they removed from the process.
From someone that was there.
Tractor trailer went head on into a car and killed two people.
That is absolutely horrifying. My heart breaks for their families. Today is probably going to be the worst day of their lives.
If you were physically there, please reach out to a therapist if you haven't already. Even being a bystander to something like that can be traumatic.
That’s a terrible tragedy. It does seem like it would be real difficult to head the wrong way on the turnpike. You would almost have to do it intentionally.
Based off how fast they were driving it seemed intentional. I’m assuming they got on at exit 286 and there’s no way you’re accidentally getting on the wrong side. It’s so sad and I feel awful for the families
Scary, glad you’re ok
[deleted]
How scary. Yikes. Glad you are ok.
Not seeing anything on google.
u/daddyharne heard about it on the scanner.
I tried telling to the guy he was going the wrong way. He just flipped me off and yelled how the hell do I know where he's going
Oh he's drunk, how would he know where were going
You are so edgy and cool!
If you don't get the reference just say so
whats the reference, out of curiosity?
Around the minute mark
How was I supposed to get a shitty reference when people fucking died?
[deleted]
Everything on the internet is a joke dummy. Chill out.
[deleted]
I don’t think Planes, Trains and Automobiles is obscure
Well then I got nothing
I am new just bought a house here and hoping its not close to your classless ass
[deleted]
The article you linked is from December 4th.
ope, my bad. was looking at the date to the article above it in google results. i also replied to the wrong comment. i'm a mess.
Lol all good!
Omg how terrifying. I’m glad you’re ok!
That’s awful. Happened to me on 476 about ten years ago. I was in an e-150 work van and he was in a mini cooper and wearing a blue shirt. Nothing like seeing headlights coming at you at 2am.
Happened to me twice. Not trying to one up you or anything. First time was a kid in a station wagon driving down the breakdown lane on a divided highway in the middle of the day, looked scared shiftless. Second time at night on another divided highway.
Those lights look funny... Oh shit... Woosh. Blew past at the speed limit + in the lane I had just vacated.
Had that happen with a car going the wrong way on I-95 during a late night dense fog; never forget it. He just came right past like he was on a two lane road. Horrific
On the turnpike? Nearly the whole thing is divided by concrete barriers! How do you go the wrong way like that for so long without noticing? How do you even wander over to the wrong side?
Thanks.
Its apparently still active.
Active Travel Advisories Highway Detour I-76 between Morgantown and Reading Morgantown WB to Reading- Take State Route 10 South (1 mile) to State Route 23 West (8 miles) to US Route 322 West (8 miles) to Route 222 North (5 miles). Re-enter the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Reading Interchange (286)..
You must have been right buy us. We were there as well at almost the same sight and same time. We pulled over at mile marker 287.5 We had to swerve off the road. I am so glad we weren't in the passing lane.
Happened to me getting off 202N at 401. The car came up past us while we were getting off the off-ramp. I flashed him, then called 9-1-1. Didn't see any dispatches for accidents over the next hour or so. Figuring he realized his mistake and turned around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL1gyXOUJSg
Man this is so horrible. 3 weeks ago, a dear friend of mine was killed going the wrong way on the Turnpike. They still don't know how it happened. It's sad and scary.
I was on w Chester pike at around 1 am and I saw a black box truck coming towards me (I buy and sell box trucks I’ve never seen a black one before) and it went in between me and another car and I have no idea what happened to it after. I assume no crash happened or I would’ve heard about it since I was about a mile from my house. It was right before the royal farms and Lawrence rd Example: |me|boxtruck|other car|
Two fatalities as a result of the tractor trailer accident
Does anyone have any news links about this? All I’m seeing here is here-say.
Same!
A few years ago a friend’s family was visiting the DC area from South Africa. The man who was driving had never been to the US, never driven on this side of the road, and never driven in snow. In SA they drive on the other side of the road. He left Dulles and the road were completely snow covered and it was snowing like nuts. He ended up merging onto an exit. Thank God a VA state trooper was right behind him and pulled him over. He was actually very kind, no ticket and let him on his way. I have a friend from AU and when we travel there she always drives . I think on main highways it’s fine as you can easily follow traffic presuming there is some, but if the road is abandoned and snow covered, or you are on a side road, it’s easy to make the mistake.
that being said someone with a CDL would not be in this situation.
I’ve always wondered about this if you are sober. If you have any road experience It just has to feel wrong.
Tractor trailers on then turnpike are the absolute worst. They completely disregard the lanes they are supposed to stay in and do well over the speed limit. The turnpike In a lot of areas is not just a straight road you can barrel down (hence the name). Im great full for truckers, but some of them are absolutely dangerous.
Googling “PA turnpike crash” yields recent news articles.
This is one of them: https://www.fox43.com/amp/article/news/local/lancaster-county/turnpike-crash-i-76-lancaster-county-fatal/521-32197b74-f2ef-4e98-90e3-82f068979496
Stay safe.
[deleted]
[deleted]
were they drunk or something?
Update: 2 sisters dead, 1 passenger injured.
Driver is being charged with 2 counts of vehicular homicide while DUI and 2 regular counts of vehicle homicide
Actually, WPXI had some more info on it
Awful…. And you know it could have been prevented or at least caught earlier if we still had real people working the turnpike… but noooo we have to exclusively use EZ Pass/toll by plate now.
It's pretty easy to tell when you're driving on the left side of the f****** road
Ok? Where did I say that the driver isn’t at fault?
Oh… I didn’t.
The point is that if we still had paid workers on the turnpike, then if something like this occurred , PSP would be notified a lot more quickly (like when they get on at an exit and there’s a toll right there?!?) vs waiting for the first Good Samaritan with a cellphone who notices a truck flying past the wrong way… which in turn could have potentially prevented the death of those who were hit seeing as the turnpike has an emergency alert system which could have been used to alert drivers to pull off to the shoulder or to wait at a rest stop rather than to continue driving into the path of a tractor trailers coming head on..
This was on a non toll road reportedly. If anything, technology should be employed to catch things like this. PA is decades behind in infrastructure
Edit: Possibly misread a comment where someone was talking about non-toll roads
The entire US is decades behind on infrastructure. This isn't just a PA thing.
That’s true but this is a PA sub. We also specifically vote for conservative politicians so the state is to blame as well.
Philly's been Democrat running for a long time and the infrastructure there is pretty bad too it's not a partisan position
The bulk of Democrats who win here are conservative. I didn’t specify political party on purpose. It’s a neoliberal politics/right wing America -in general problem. So yes it’s bipartisan because our politicians have no incentive to invest in longterm solutions.
Plus, doesn’t the city need state/federal funding to handle infrastructure?
I agree with that. As for the County's they are usually supposed to take care of their own infrastructure (see how roads can be paved in some county's regularly and others not). Major projects probably need additional resources, but should be by the town/city first before that.
> This was on a non toll road reportedly.
It was on the turnpike, which is most definitely NOT a non-toll road.
The title literally says it was on the turnpike…… so which part of the turnpike is free now?… 🤔
You're right. Don't know why you are getting down voted.
I think people believe I’m taking fault away from the driver or something. 🤷🏻♀️
Which I’m not…
[deleted]
Alert State Police ,more like it
Apply for a job that was eliminated?……. I’m saying if we hadn’t eliminated toll booth workers as a job, this would have been far less likely to happen.. I am not saying that the driver isn’t at fault… and I’m certainly not saying they should have stood outside to attempt to stop it… but if there were toll booth workers, it wouldn’t have been seen as soon as the driver got on, and PSP could have been alerted way sooner.
andrewhy t1_j1h2coz wrote
There was a post about it earlier. Apparently it resulted in a wreck and the turnpike is closed.