Crime & Safety

PA Turnpike Crash Kills a Doctor, Report Says

The massive pile-up snarled traffic on the turnpike for hours Sunday.

By Nicole Foulke

Pennsylvania State Police have released information about the circumstances surrounding a Pittsburgh man who died after being struck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Sunday afternoon, where an estimated 50 vehicles were part of mass vehicular crashes. 

According to State Police, Andrew S. Fisher, 35, had been walking on the westbound side of the turnpike around 12:28 p.m. at milepost 300.8 post in West Nantmeal to observe a severe part of the vehicle collisions.

Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He was located at the north part of an embankment when an Infinity driven by Susanne M. Case, 72, from Trenton, approached the collision scene.

Case, trying to avoid hitting people standing in the road, drove to the berm and hit Fisher where he stood on the north embankment, said police. Fished died on the turnpike from his injuries.

Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Fisher was a doctor and former Peace Corps volunteer, according to Philly.com.

State Police Corporal Richard Dean, who has been investigating the crashes, told Patch that they believe that the initial crash began with about 30 or 35 vehicles, and then about twenty more became involved, bringing the total to around 50-some vehicles.

Officials believe that weather could have contributed to the crash. The were more accidents reported on I-95 and I-476 that day.

Patch editor Courtney Elko was stuck on the westbound side of the turnpike from 12:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., when traffic had stopped.

"Cars were up embankments and all over, on and off the road. Some lost tires and there as debris all over the road," Elko said. "During the four hour wait, people were walking their dogs on the turnpike, standing outside chatting and some pulled off onto the shoulder, abandoned their cars and started walking. At least one car lost power and had to be jumped, fortunately it started up again."

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.