Lives are changed in an instant when suddenly faced with a wrong-way driver.
In our effort to find out what’s being done to try to stop them, morning news anchor Jennifer Tomazic followed up with PennDOT after another crash on a road we’ve already highlighted for a wrong-way crash.
A jarring, difficult to watch video was recently posted on social media, reportedly of a wrong-way crash on Route 30 in Hempfield Township in April.
“The video flooded all of my Facebook,” said Jordan Rogachesky, who sent the video to Tomazic.
Jordan was featured on Channel 11 in 2023 in our first story about wrong-way drivers. She survived a crash just down the road on Route 30 in 2022, coming face to face with a wrong-way driver around a bend.
“There was no time to react,” Rogachesky recalled. “My only reaction was the thought in my head that I was going to die.”
It’s not easy for Rogachesky to recount that night, but she agreed to sit down with us again because she is hoping to see PennDOT do more to stop wrong-way drivers on Route 30.
Tomazic asked David Parker, PennDOT District 12 Traffic Engineer, “Is it a concern to you that there are now two crashes in this area, going the wrong way?”
“We take every crash serious. We always want to reduce fatalities and severe crashes,” Parker said.
He spoke specifically about the crash on April 23, where state police say a woman in her 80s got on Route 30, likely at Mount Pleasant Road, going the wrong way.
“At this particular location, we do have the proper signs in place: the do not enters, the wrong way signs. There are also the delineators with the reflective red tape facing the wrong-way driver,” Parker said.
Tomazic asked Parker if PennDOT would put any more advanced technology at that ramp to try to prevent wrong-way drivers.
“At this moment in time, we don’t have anything planned or in the works, but there’s always potential for innovative ideas and designs that we can incorporate into our projects,” he said.
Parker says once the state police investigation is complete on the April 23 crash, PennDOT will look at the data and decide if there are any appropriate measures it can put in place.
To that point, could too much signage be confusing?
“There’s always a chance you could have a sign clutter. We try to avoid that,” Parker said. “We want them to remain focused on the appropriate signs and keep their attention on that sign to deter them from going in the wrong direction.”
In 2023, PennDOT says there were 45 wrong-way driving crashes statewide. That’s compared to 53 in 2022. That year, nine of those wrong-way crashes involved a driver over 65.
PennDOT noted that wrong-way crashes represent a very low percentage of total crashes and fatalities.
Those who survive, like Jordan, are left with physical and mental scars, not easy to overcome.
“I had broken hips, nine broken ribs, both of my femurs were fractured,” Rogachesky told us. “I definitely still have a lot of anxiety being on the road, especially with the instances that continue to happen.”
Rogachesk avoids driving on Route 30 as much as she can, but she did have an observation to share.
“With it being springtime, there are a lot of trees that end up obstructing wrong-way signs that are there,” Rogachesk said.
PennDOT followed up, saying it does routine maintenance and if it is notified that vegetation is blocking a sign, it will remove it to make sure the sign is visible.
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