Local woman flown to hospital after crash
The driver of this car was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital after being hit by a tractor-trailer Monday in Canonsburg.
A tractor-trailer and car were involved in an accident Monday in Canonsburg that sent the driver of the car to a Pittsburgh hospital.
A Canonsburg woman was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital Monday morning after her vehicle was hit broadside on the passenger side by a tractor-trailer.
Cheryl Lynn Martorana, 57, was driving east on Morganza Road, crossing the intersection with Weavertown Road in Canonsburg just after 7:30 a.m., when she was hit by a tractor-trailer driven by Abraham Toure, 35, of St. Paul, Minn., who was traveling down Weavertown, said borough police Officer Tom O’Rourke. The impact pushed Martorana’s Honda Accord across Morganza, over a small embankment and through the parking lot of Walgreens. The car came to rest at the curb that separates the lot from Cavasina Drive. O’Rourke said the car was pushed 188 feet from the point of initial impact.
Martorana had to be freed from the wreckage by Canonsburg and North Strabane firefighters. O’Rourke said she was flown to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she was in stable condition Monday morning.
Toure, who is a Liberian national, told O’Rourke he had just gotten off Interstate 79 northbound at Canonsburg and turned left on Weavertown.
“He said the brakes on the truck completely failed,” O’Rourke said. “He said he had no way to stop.”
Toure also told the officer that he was supposed to make a delivery in Canonsburg. The truck, which was pulling a refrigeration unit, is owned by M&D trucking of Eden Prairie, Minn.
Sgt. Loren Cochran said the borough’s motor carrier enforcement officer, motor carrier officers from North Strabane Township and state police were inspecting the impounded truck for violations. O’Rourke said they will consult with the Washington County district attorney’s office to determine what charges should be filed.
O’Rourke said it would have been disastrous if more vehicles had been going through the intersection or if pedestrians had been walking through the lot.