MEC&F Expert Engineers : 02/12/15

Thursday, February 12, 2015

TOPEKA, KANSAS WOMAN KILLED IN US-75 WRECK. A TRUCK THAT WAS ATTEMPTING TO CROSS HWY. 75, BUT FAILED TO YIELD AT THE STOP SIGN, COLLIDED WITH THE VICTIM’S CAR





FEBRUARY 12, 2015




TOPEKA, KANSAS. (WIBW) – 




A deadly wreck shut down a stretch of U.S. Highway 75 in south Jackson Co. for much of Wednesday night and was blamed for another wreck that injured several people, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.




According to the Kansas Highway Patrol just after 7:00 p.m. the driver of a red Oldsmobile Alero was heading north on Hwy. 75 when the car collided with a westbound Freightliner Ryder truck that was attempting to cross Hwy. 75, but failed to yield at the stop sign. 




KHP says that the Alero's driver, 56 year-old Jacqueline Moore of Topeka, was killed in the crash. There were two other passengers in the Alero. One passenger, 54 year-old Dwayne Anderson, was taken to Stormont Vail Hospital. The other, 50 year-old Shelli Zarazua, was not hurt. 

The driver of the Ryder truck, 33 year-old Christopher Smart, also was not hurt. KHP Crash Logs said that everyone involved in the accident was wearing a seat belt.




The Sheriff's Office also worked another incident near the Jackson-Shawnee Co. line, south of the first wreck. According to Morse,a northbound car collided with the back of a Dodge pick up truck. Several were hurt in that crash.




The Kansas Department of Transportation said that all northbound lanes of Hwy. 75 at K-214 reopened at 12:45 a.m. Thursday morning.




One of the 13 News team who was covering the wrecks was involved in another crash as well while on his way back to the station. He was not seriously hurt in the incident.

FIERY HEAD-ON CRASH IN MISSOURI KILLS THE DRIVER OF A CHURCH VAN, INJURES 9







FEBRUARY 11, 2015

PEMISCOT COUNTY, MO (KFVS):


One person was killed and nine others were injured in a crash that involved a church van in Pemiscot County, Missouri on Wednesday evening.

The crash happened on Route U at Route H, 5 miles west of Caruthersville around 7 p.m.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 32-year-old David W. Pennington of St. Louis was trying to pass an SUV driven by 24-year-old Franklin Casteel of Cooter, Missouri.

Pennington hit the SUV and then hit the church van head on, according to the MSHP.

Pennington was seriously injured and was flown to Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee.

According to the medical center, Pennington was in surgery on Thursday and is still recovering.

Casteel was moderately injured and taken to Memorial Hospital in Hayti.
Sgt. Clark Parrott with the MSHP said the church van caught on fire.

The driver of the van, 43-year-old Bobby L. Coleman, of Caruthersville, Mo., was taken to Pemiscot Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 7:30 p.m.

According to the MSHP crash report, seven people riding in the van were injured, included a 5-year-old girl, five teenagers and one adult. Their injuries ranged from moderate to serious on Wednesday night.

As of Thursday, the second adult, 34-year-old Pamela Ings was released from the hospital.
One of the teen's condition has been upgraded from serious to satisfactory on Thursday.

Some in the van were flown to Memphis hospitals and some were taken to Pemiscot Memorial in Hayti.
The van was from the Kinfolk Ridge Baptist Church in Caruthersville and, according to the MSHP, was on its way to a banquet.

Several helicopters had to land in a field near the crash to take the injured away from the scene.

Troopers, along with members of the major crash investigation team, are still working to find a cause.

Coleman's funeral and visitation set
Visitation for Coleman is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at First Baptist Church in Caruthersville, Mo.

Coleman was an 18-year veteran. A full firefighter's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the church.

Family and friends remember Coleman
For family and fellow firefighters to say Bobby Coleman was loved is an understatement.

A fellow firefighter at the Arteriole Fire Department said Coleman worked there for at least 20 years. He was a longtime church member and was driving kids to and from the event.

A firefighter, a friend and a wonderful father. Coleman was the kind of person everyone on the fire department considered family.

In fact, it was Coleman's brother who was one of the first responders; a fellow firefighter who arrived on scene on Wednesday night.

The entire department said they are devastated by the news. A man, they call, one of the most dependable on the team is gone. He would have been working on Thursday, in fact, sleeping at the station with uniform at his feet, ready to go.

Chief Charlie Jones said he doesn't have words to describe how much he meant to the community.

"He was a very good, Christian person; and he would do anything for you," Caruthersville Fire Chief Charlie Jones said. "He was the type that loved the fire department. He loved his church, he loved his people and he loved his family. And he had an outpouring of love for everybody he saw."

Coleman's cousin, Assistant Police Chief Jerry Hudgens, said they grew up like brothers. He also served alongside him at the fire department. He said everyone in the community loved in the same way.

Hudgens said their last day together was earlier in the week, one he's more than thankful for.

Now, he wants Coleman's legacy to live on, to reach out to anyone in need. He said he knows Bobby is smiling down from heaven knowing the children in the van are ok.

Schools, community pull together for those injured and for Coleman's family
Three teenagers injured in the crash attended the R-3 School District and the Delta C-7 School District. The driver who was killed, Bobby Coleman, has two kids that attend Caruthersville High School.

In addition to that, two kids on the bus are students at the middle school.
Caruthersville Superintendent J.J. Bullington said those students were brought to an area hospital for their injuries and are expected to be ok.

Because of the impact of the situation, counselors are on hand at both the high school and middle school.

Bullington believes the people there will help support the families that have been impacted.

"Our community has always been a close-knit community, and when there is a need or a tragedy, the community is always unbelievably generous and comes together and helps the families in need," Bullington said.

A fund has been set up for the Coleman family at Bank Star in Caruthersville.
Bullington also talked about Coleman.

"You will never hear anything said about him that is not just the epitome of a Christian man, and he does a lot," Bullington said. "The whole idea that he was picking up children to take them to church for a Valentine's event just speaks volumes of the kind of person that he is."

The family is asking for donations to go to the church Coleman was a youth pastor at, Kinfolk Ridge Baptist Church in Caruthersville.

Head-on crash kills South Amboy man in Sayreville, New Jersey



A South Amboy man was killed in a two-car crash that occurred on Bordentown Avenue in the area of the "S" curves Thursday morning, according to police Lt. Daniel Plumacker.

The accident, which occurred just before 8 a.m., is under investigation by the Sayreville Police Department Traffic Safety Bureau, he said.

Police said the victim, whose name was not released pending notification of next of kin, was reportedly driving a 2007 Honda Accord west on Bordentown Avenue when his vehicle crossed the double yellow line and was struck by a box truck traveling in the opposite direction.

Officers from the Sayreville Police Department, along with the Sayreville First Aid Squad and medics from Raritan Bay Medical Center, were dispatched to the accident scene. The driver of the box truck reported nonlife-threatening injuries and was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. The driver of the Honda Accord was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bordentown Avenue was closed in both directions from the time of the accident until approximately 11 a.m.

Sayreville police ask anyone with information about the accident to contact Sgt. Bartlinski of the Traffic Safety Bureau at 732-525-5431.

WHITEOUT CAUSES INTERSTATE 80 CRASH IN PENNSYLVANIA THAT INVOLVES 19 VEHICLES; SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITALS











According to PA state police, a heavy snow squall caused whiteout conditions, covering the road surface. Twenty-six vehicles were involved in 11 separate crash scenes within a 3-mile stretch of road.







February 12, 2015




WALKER TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA:

Interstate 80 westbound was shut down between Lock Haven and Milesburg for about two hours Thursday because of a multivehicle accident near mile marker 164, PennDOT spokeswoman Marla Fannin said.




Eastbound traffic was restricted to one lane but, by about 2 p.m., the eastbound lanes were open and westbound traffic was restricted to one lane. All lanes are now open.




A witness at the scene said a snow squall caused the chain-reaction crash.



Undine Fire Company Chief Jim Pressler said there were no reports of significant injuries, but people were taken to regional hospitals with minor injuries, he said.




Emergency personnel had no access to the accidents along the westbound route and had to cross over, Pressler said, traveling eastbound and discovered the westbound lane had been completely blocked by a tractor-trailer.




According to state police, a heavy snow squall caused whiteout conditions, covering the road surface. Twenty-six vehicles were involved in 11 separate crash scenes within a 3-mile stretch of road.




Sam Coefer Jr., of Watauga, Tenn., said he was driving his tractor-trailer west along the interstate when he heard other drivers “literally screaming” on the CB radio that an accident had occurred close to mile marker 162.




Another driver said he had hit a car, Coefer said.




“It was a pure whiteout,” he said. “You see it on TV, but you never expect to be in one.”




Phil McAfee, of Unionville, said whiteout conditions made the road extremely slick. A passing truck caused the accident, he said, which caused additional accidents as everyone slowed down behind it.




McAfee’s truck was rear-ended by another vehicle, he said, which knocked his small tractor from its trailer.




“It was all over in a couple seconds,” he said. 







TRUCK CAREENS MORE THAN 50 FEET OFF U.S. 281 OVERPASS IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS; 1 DEAD, 1 CRITICALLY INJURED, BOTH YOUNG WOMEN








San Antonio firefighters work to remove a victim or victims from a vehicle that ran off 281 southbound and landed upside down in a creek bed shortly after 1:00 pm Thursday February 12, 2015.

February 12, 2015




SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS:



A woman died Thursday after a pickup truck fell more than 50 feet from an overpass on U.S. 281 on the North Side.





The Ford pickup was traveling southbound when it drove off the highway around 1 p.m. between Basse and Jones Maltsberger Road and landed upside down.




An off-duty paramedic who was playing golf at the Quarry Golf Club was able to get to the scene of the crash and pull a female passenger out of the vehicle, officials said.




She was transported to an area hospital with critical injuries. The driver, however, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Both are believed to be in their early-to-mid 20s, police said.




The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.