'This whole stretch of road is bad:' Woman killed in crash on Route 22
SALEM TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - A crash between a semi-truck and an SUV claimed the life of a woman this morning at an intersection on Route 22 that's become notorious for violent and deadly collisions.
According to first responders, Friday morning's tragedy wasn't the first one at this intersection and they're sure it will not be the last.
It was about 10:30 a.m. when first responders said a woman driving an SUV tried to cross Route 22 in Salem Township and never made it to the other side. The coroner identified her as 79-year-old Sandra Jones.
"She pulled out in front of a truck, obviously, she was t-boned," explained Steven Rosatti assistant chief of the Forbes Road Volunteer Fire Department. "It was a t-boned type of collision."
Jones died at the scene and the truck's operator was uninjured.
"The truck was an oversized load, it was hauling bridge decking for a parking garage in Pittsburgh," Rosatti said. "He didn't have much time to react - not at all."
Rosatti responded to the crash and said in his experience, he knew it was going to be a bad one before he even got on the scene.
"Forty years of being a firefighter, I've lost count of how many fatalities there've been at this intersection over the years," he recalled.
One big issue is that there is a four-way intersection here in the first place.
"I don't know it's been like this for years," Rosatti said. "They widened it to two lanes and it's still the same."
A possible option would be closing off the intersection and forcing motorists to make turns to the east or west, respectively, and if drivers want to go in the opposite direction, they can use intersections with traffic lights west and eastbound further along Route 22.
"This whole stretch of road is bad," he said. "You just got to pay attention."
We've reached out to PennDOT to see if there are any immediate plans to close the intersection and we are awaiting a response.
