Another head-on wreck has happened on a Pennsylvania highway. The crash claimed the lives of two people and was discovered around 3:00 Saturday morning along Route 61 in New Castle Township. Authorities say that an off-duty Girardville police officer found the accident scene while on his way home from work.
Officials say that the vehicles were so damaged that emergency responders needed about 45 minutes just to get to the two accident victims in their respective crumpled vehicles.
The two men were each taken to a landing pad that was set up at a mall in Frackville. One of the accident victims, a 48-year-old Shenandoah resident, was pronounced dead on the landing pad about two hours after the crash.
The second man, a 32-year-old Mohnton, Pennsylvania, resident, was transported to a hospital in Pottsville. He was pronounced dead shortly before 6:00 Saturday morning at Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street.
An investigation into the fatal crash continues. Investigators say that the scene did not appear to have any skid marks.
Head-on wrecks may only make up about 2 percent of all traffic accidents in the country, but as we have previously reported, head-on crashes can quickly claim the lives of anyone involved. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says that roughly 10 percent of all traffic deaths occur in head-on collisions.
The forces of a head-on crash are not the only danger these types of wrecks present. Drivers and passengers can strike objects in the car (such as the windshield, the driver’s wheel, and many other objects that can cause serious and fatal injuries).