Saturday, January 17, 2015

PA. MAN KILLED IN A PICKUP TRUCK CRASH WITH A TRACTOR TRAILER HAULING FARM EQUIPMENT. THE TRAILER HAD NO OPERATIONAL LIGHTS AND PA ROADS ARE NARROW, HILLY, CURVY AND NOT WELL-LIT AT ALL: ANOTHER RECIPE FOR DISASTER



PA. MAN KILLED IN A PICKUP TRUCK CRASH WITH A TRACTOR TRAILER HAULING FARM EQUIPMENT.  THE TRAILER HAD NO OPERATIONAL LIGHTS AND PA ROADS ARE NARROW, HILLY, CURVY AND NOT WELL-LIT AT ALL:  ANOTHER RECIPE FOR DISASTER

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — A 64-year-old man died Friday night after the vehicle he was driving collided with a farm tractor hauling farm equipment on Pa. 316 about seven miles southeast of Chambersburg, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Rodney D. Michalsky of Waynesboro, Pa., was flown from the scene in the 5400 block of Wayne Road, which is Pa. 316, after the 7:15 p.m. crash, but was pronounced dead upon arrival at Hershey Medical Center, police said in a news release.

The accident occurred in the southbound lane of Pa. 316 as a 1986 Ford F150 pickup truck, being driven by Michalsky, rear-ended a New Holland tractor pulling a large manure pump that had no operational lights, police said.

The driver of the tractor, an unidentified 16-year-old male, was not injured in the crash, police said.

Trooper Eric Dreisbach, who investigated the crash, said the driver of the tractor had pulled out from a private driveway with another person following in a truck with lights. 

However, the other truck was not able to pull out in time to give warning in the darkness to Michalsky as he approached the manure pump, which the trooper described as a 35-foot-long "spear." 

"It's at a bad spot with a hill," Dreisbach said Saturday.

No charges had been filed in the accident as of Saturday afternoon, Dreisbach said. 
Assisting state police at the scene were New Franklin Fire Department and medic units from Marion and Fayetteville.