Truck careens off I-79 overpass onto Route 519 at Houston exit
Truck careens off I-79 overpass onto Route 519 at Houston exit
A motorist is “lucky to be alive” after his pickup truck careened off an Interstate 79 overpass at the Houston interchange in North Strabane Township and crash landed onto Route 519 below.
The driver was traveling north on the interstate about 8 p.m. Monday when he lost control of his work truck and drove off the highway, striking the guidewires and guardrail along the grassy median, North Strabane Public Safety Director Mark Grimm said.
Grimm said he then “rode the side of the bridge” and struck the bridge embankment before crashing down onto Route 519. The truck pancaked onto the roadway below, and North Strabane firefighters needed to cut the driver out of the vehicle, Grimm said.
“He kind of rode it down. (His truck) hugged the bridge,” Grimm said. “The bridge probably saved his life.”
The man was flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh area hospital for treatment, and his condition and name were not immediately released.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” Grimm said.
Just as fortunate was that no vehicles were traveling under the overpass on Route 519 when the crash occurred.
“Just when you say you’ve seen it all, then this appears,” Grimm said.
Route 519 was closed for about two hours, and I-79’s northbound lanes had minor restrictions while state police investigated and crews removed the wreckage. State police did not immediately release information about the crash or identify the driver.
North Strabane firefighters were assisted at the scene by crews from Chartiers Township, along with medics from Ambulance & Chair and Canonsburg Ambulance.