Icy Conditions Cause Many Accidents Across Area
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The freezing rain and sleet mix that fell across the area overnight created icy road conditions all across the area for the Tuesday morning commute.
There were several accidents as some roads in the city of Pittsburgh became ice-covered and hazardous to drive on.
It was shortly after 8 a.m. when Fallowfield Avenue in Beechview quickly began to resemble a junkyard.
The first vehicle to go was a golden car into the back of a white van. Moments later, a white Chevy Suburban spun around three times, stopping only after slamming into the back of a Pontiac.
Seconds after that, a silver Hyundai went crashing and careening down the road until it slammed into a white Mustang parked in a driveway.
"It's a 2007 and it has under 6,000 miles," said Don Worthylko, owner of the Mustang. "We try to park it there in the driveway cause we thought it would be safe."
However, nothing was safe along that particular stretch of Fallowfield Avenue Tuesday morning. The area is no more than 200 yards between the crest of the hill and the very bottom of the street.
There were 10 cars that had significant or minor damage in that 200 yards and it didn't matter whether they had four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive.
"All of the sudden, we were in a tailspin and that was it," said Mark Ciancetta, a passenger involved in the crash.
City salt trucks and salt spreaders showed up about an hour later.
"This has been constantly like this for over 10 years," added Worthylko. "I've seen it bad though, people hitting telephones poles and going up into porches and stuff like that, but this is the worst."
Some residents say they would like to see access to the road, heading down the hill, closed off when the weather is bad; however, public works officials say there is very little they can do as Mother Nature has the upper hand on days like today.
Despite all the damage, there were no injuries other than one man who ran out of his home when he heard the crashing, slipped and cut his head.
Meanwhile, in Carrick, a driver lost control of an SUV and slid into someone's front porch. It happened in the 1200-block of Transverse Avenue.
Officials say part of the porch's roof fell onto the vehicle during the accident. There were no injuries.
In Fayette County, the icy roads caused a school bus to slide down a hillside. This accident happened in Connellsville on Wills Road Extension.
No one was injured, and the students were taken to school on another bus.
Elsewhere in the city of Pittsburgh, residents reported icy conditions on Caton Street in Squirrel Hill.
There was also a massive pile-up on Morrowfield Avenue in Greenfield. A driver tried to make his way up Flemington Street, and only hit the curb on his way back down.
"I made it almost all the way up and my car just started going sideways," said Brian Bernhardt, the driver. "A police officer was at the corner just told me to stay there until a salt truck comes by."
Neighbors on these Greenfield streets say the city never seems to salt the roads when they need it. They say Windsor Street is one of the worst in the city and is constantly ignored.
"I moved into this house a long time ago," said Jeff Stein, a resident of the street. "This hill here is probably the worst hill in the city."
