Wrong Way Crash Shuts Down Parkway East
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - An early Monday morning crash injured two people and shut down a portion of the Parkway East.
The wreckage has since been cleaned up, but officials are still trying to figure out how one of the drivers ended up going the wrong way.
Both the wrong way driver and the driver of the SUV she crashed into suffered serious injuries. Police said both are expected to survive their injuries.
Emergency crews had to pry open the driver's side door of the wrong way driver's Chevrolet Cavalier because 21-year-old Kelsey Davis was trapped inside.
State police said Davis somehow got onto the Parkway East, driving the wrong way, heading east in the westbound lanes, when she crashed into an SUV right before the Oakland exit.
After hitting the SUV being driven by 47-year-old Christophe Taesch, Davis' car spun and hit a tractor-trailer.
Davis' car was mangled and she had major injuries according to state police. Davis was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital. The SUV she hit had pretty severe damage and Taesch had moderate injuries. He was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.
The accident happened just before 4 a.m. and crews were quick to shut down the inbound lanes of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels.
However, dozens of drivers were stuck between the tunnels and the accident. Police assisted in turning them around and getting them off the Parkway, but many more waited in traffic outside of the tunnels until the accident was cleared around 5:30 a.m.
Police are still trying to determine where Davis entered the Parkway.
Watch Harold Hayes' report:
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