Nov 28, 2002 1 min read

With a seat belt and air bags, a panel of Fayette County Coroner’s jurors ruled that Nellie Mantenuti might have survived a Nov. 29, 2001, crash into a Masontown house. The 87-year-old was a passenger in a car driven by her husband, Nickolas, who died three months later form injuries sustained in the accident.

Nellie Mantenuti was pronouced dead at the scene of the Main Street accident. Her husband, according to testimony from state police accident reconstructionist Cpl. Joseph D’Andrea, veered slowly off the road, hit a small ramp and flew over a ditch at a downward angle into the house. The owner was identified in police reports as Ethel Szernsci.

D’Andrea said the Nickolas Mantenuti was driving at about 30 mph at the time the vehicle went airborne.

Mantenuti’s wife died from blunt force injuries at the scene.

The accident was termed avoidable due to the lack of seat belts and Nickolas Mantenuti’s leaving the roadway.