Latrobe Municipal Authority worker on lawn mower injured in crash with car in Derry Township

The driver of a car rear-ended a man on a riding lawn mower along Route 217 in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, on Tuesday afternoon. 

According to Pennsylvania State Police, Teryn Nuttall had just turned off U.S. Route 30 in her white Chevy Cobalt and was heading north along Route 217 around 2:20 p.m., when she got behind Latrobe Municipal Authority worker Derrick Steininger, who was on a riding lawn mower in the road. State police said he was seemingly moving from one patch of grass owned by the Latrobe Municipal Authority to another.

State police said that while the investigation is still ongoing, it appears that Nuttall may have tried to get around Steininger, and that is when the front of her car hit the back of his mower.

Nuttall's airbags deployed, and both she and Steininger were knocked unconscious. Nuttall was taken to Latrobe Hospital in stable condition, and Steininger was flown to UPMC Presbyterian in critical condition, Mutual Aid EMS told KDKA-TV's news partner at the Latrobe Bulletin.

"It was gut-wrenching," Terri Hauser, manager of the Latrobe Municipal Authority, said on Wednesday. "It was a punch to the stomach. You hate to see your employees in any kind of danger like that."

Hauser said, however, that the authority received some positive news about Steininger, who called his supervisor from the hospital on Wednesday to say that he'd be back to work soon.

"We have had communication with his wife," said Hauser. "They are running tests on him, and everything is coming back in the right direction. And let me just say that we are hopeful to have him back real soon. We are rooting for him, and his wife has done a great job communicating with us."

State police said that investigators believe this collision could have been avoided, adding that the Latrobe Municipal Authority has agreed to trailer all of its mowers from here on out so something like this does not happen again.