Route 885 accident injures 2

Two women were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon following a four-vehicle collision in Jefferson Hills.

The accident occurred around 3 p.m. when a maroon Honda Accord traveling southbound on Route 885 struck head-on a northbound white Toyota Camry as the Toyota was making a left turn onto Coal Valley Road.

Two other vehicles — a red Toyota MR-2 and a black Jeep Cherokee — were damaged to a minor extent as they were swiped by the colliding vehicles.

Witnesses told police the middle-aged female driver of the Accord had been passing vehicles over a double yellow line and was in the process of an illegal pass when the collision occurred.

"It's an illegal pass. Why she was doing it, I have no idea," said Jefferson Hills police Chief Gene Roach.

The identities of the hospitalized drivers were not immediately available. The MR-2 driver, Matt Roethlein of Bethel Park, and the Cherokee driver, Jim Furnival of Munhall, both refused medical treatment and were standing by at the crash scene as crews cleared the accident.

"I saw it coming," said Furnival, whose vehicle was struck in the rear by the Accord.

"It was something," said Roethlein. "I'm just shaken up."

First responders had to extricate the Accord driver from her vehicle by using the Jaws-of-Life. Jefferson Hills Ambulance Assistant Chief Robert Gibson said she then was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center and from there flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh trauma center. Gibson said the Accord driver was unconscious immediately following the wreck but later regained consciousness and was able to tell rescuers who she was and said she was experiencing foot pain.

The Camry driver, described as an elderly female, complained of chest pain after the accident and was taken by ambulance to UPMC Mercy.

The fire trucks and wrecked cars in the intersection of the roadway produced a scene onlookers said they've seen too often.

Linda Paterni, who lives nearby, said she's seen at least six major accidents in the intersection in the past 10 years.

"They need to put a light here," she said. "Why don't they put up a stop sign?"