I-95 near Penn's Landing was closed for a short time after a multi-car pileup killed a 38-year-old Philadelphia woman and injured at least three more people. The fatal motor vehicle accident involved seven vehicles, including a tanker truck, a box truck, two SUVs and the victim's Honda Accord.
Traffic was stopped in the left hand lane of I-95 but the driver of the tanker truck either did not notice or was unable to stop and rear-ended the Honda. The highway accident turned fatal when the impact of the tanker truck pushed the Accord into the right lane, directly in the path of the box truck.
Of the three other drivers injured in the motor vehicle accident, only one suffered minor injuries. The tanker truck involved was towed out from under the Spruce Street overpass. Investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
Common causes of highway accidents include:
- Equipment failure: brakes, tires, steering
- Design of the roadway: visibility, surface structure, traffic flow, traffic control devices
- Weather
- Road maintenance: sanding, patching potholes, debris in driving lanes
- Drivers: speeding, distracted driving, inattentiveness, aggressive driving
It's been bad day for commuters on I-95. A semi-truck hauling garbage overturned early in the morning, closing portions of I-95 and I-676. The truck driver in that I-95 rollover accident was taken to the Hahnemann University Hospital for treatment of multiple injuries. A diesel leak from the overturned truck slowed cleanup and reopening of the highway.
Source: 6ABC.com, "Woman killed in multi-vehicle crash on I-95 ID'd," March 29, 2012
