A tractor trailer jack knifed on slush covered Route 222 in Richmond Township Jan. 3, that led to two vehicles striking the trailer.
‘The crash appears to have been caused in large part by weather conditions and as such charges are not anticipated,’ according to Fleetwood Police Chief Steven Stinsky in a Friday night report.
Stinsky reported that there were no injuries.
‘All three drivers were wearing seatbelts and traveling at reduced rates of speed, which contributed to none of them being injured,’ writes Stinsky.
At about 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 3, Peter Torland, 61, of Elizabethtown, was traveling northbound on Route 222 at a reduced speed due to roadway conditions, when his truck tractor and semi-trailer lost traction on the slush covered roadway at the intersection of Richmond Road, according to Stinsky.
Torland was unable to regain control. The tractor trailer jack knifed and slid northbound across the southbound lane.
Keith Beebe, 47, of Cortland, N.Y., was driving in the southbound lane when he saw the tractor trailer sliding toward his vehicle and began to brake.
Driving behind Beebe, Kristian Castellano, 22, of New Tripoli, steered to the right to avoid a collision with Beebe’s slowing vehicle.
Beebe’s vehicle’s front end collided with the right side of the truck trailer, just in front of the tires and the trailer continued to slide across Beebe’s hood, striking the windshield.
Castellano’s vehicle had come to rest on the southbound shoulder when the truck trailer impacted with his roof, pinning the vehicle under the trailer, according to Stinsky.
Castellano was able to get out of his vehicle on his own.
A Kutztown ambulance was first on scene and stood by until police, Fleetwood Ambulance, Fleetwood Fire Police and Virginville Fire Department personnel arrived. The southbound lane of Route 222 was closed for about two hours until the roadway was cleared.
V&M, KMK and Issamoyer’s towing companies responded to remove the vehicles.
