3 Crashes Snarl Traffic On Route 1 In Bucks County
By Oren Liebermann
LANGHORNE, Pa. (CBS) -- On Route 1 southbound in Langhorne, Bear Shelby saw trouble drive up behind him.
"This person acted as if he was in a NASCAR race or running from the police," said Shelby, a truck driver for American Eagle Trucking, which is based in Michigan.
Shelby says the driver of the older model Chrysler 300 tried to pass his truck in the onramp from Route 413, but there was not enough room.
"[He] hit that curb and it threw him under my front wheels of the truck," said Shelby. "Lifted me up off the ground and sent me across three lanes of traffic."
The first collision caused a chain reaction crash that covered all lanes of Route 1. The Chrysler slid under another truck's rear axle and was dragged down the road. Police say a Jeep that just missed the crash reversed its way back towards the scene, hit a guard rail, and flipped over.
"We thought we heard a blowout on the tire, and we dialed 911," said neighbor Denise Rush. "Then we saw the tractor-trailer skidding and we saw the car underneath it."
Shelby's truck broke through the metal median on Route 1, cut across the northbound lanes of traffic, and rammed into a ranch house, knocking it off its foundation. Shelby, a truck and race car driver of 42 years, knew what to do.
"I got trees, a telephone pole, all kinds of things going to come through that window," he said, referring to his windshield. "The seat belt is going to hold me up. So seat belt is coming off, and I'm going to the floor."
Twenty-thousand pounds of truck and trailer crashed into a child's bedroom. Thankfully, no one was home. Diesel from the fuel tanks leaked into the basement, but firefighters say it was contained. The homeowners came home to find their house condemned. They say they are still in shock.
Police said all of the drivers suffered minor injures in the crash and are expected to be all right.
