The Federal Highway Administration conducts research into road safety issues and also provides assistance to states in addressing and dealing with highway safety. The agency has a concept that it calls “crossing path” accidents. Most people may understand these types of wrecks as intersection crashes. While intersections are primarily where crossing path accidents may occur, these wrecks can occur in different scenarios as well—for instance, in parking lots or when a driver attempts a left-hand turn into a driveway.
Left-hand-turn accidents at intersections have created headaches for traffic flow designers for years. These accidents can be deadly. The FHA says that crossing path accidents frequently occur at intersection, and left-hand turn incidents comprise the majority of crossing path accidents. An alleged crossing paths accident Tuesday afternoon in New Castle Township claimed the life of one person and injured two others.
Authorities believe that a Minersville, Pennsylvania, woman driving a Pontiac Grand Am attempted to make a left-hand turn from Darkwater Road onto northbound Route 61 around 4:40 Tuesday afternoon. State Police say that her Grand Am crossed in front of a Nissan Frontier. The pickup truck slammed into the driver-side door of the Grand Am.
The Minersville woman driving the Grand Am suffered blunt force trauma to her chest in the wreck. She was airlifted to a hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania, where she died roughly three hours after the Route 61 crash.
A passenger in the Grand Am and the driver of the Nissan each suffered personal injuries in the intersection crash. The two surviving accident victims were taken to local hospitals for treatment of undisclosed injuries.