Fatal accidents ruled avoidable at coroner’s inquest
Fayette County Coroner’s jurors ruled Wednesday that two separate, single-vehicle accidents last April were avoidable. In both cases, jurors determined that speed was likely a factor in the deaths of John Gearhart and Michael Persichitti Sr. Gearhart, 43, of Johnson Lane, Connellsville, died when his vehicle hit a tree and flipped.
In Gearhart’s April 11 death, jurors also found that alcohol and the lack of a seat belt contributed to the fatality. Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly said that Gearhart’s blood-alcohol content was .349, nearly three and a half times the .10 legal limit for driving in Pennsylvania.
Gearhart died of blunt force injuries, the bulk of which occurred when his truck flipped onto the driver’s side, crushing his head. Gearhart had been partially ejected from the truck when he first hit a tree.
According to testimony, Gearhart was going to his Johnson Lane home from a nearby bar when the accident occurred. He was traveling approximately 54 mph in the 45 mph zone at the time of the accident, said state police.
Persichitti 58, of Merrittstown was also speeding, according to a state police report read by Reilly. The report, however, did not list the speed he was going or the speed in the area of Luzerne Township where he wrecked.
The cause of his April 17 death was listed as blunt force trauma to the head and face. Alcohol tests in Persichitti’s case were negative, said Reilly, and he was not wearing a seat belt. Jurors did not cite the lack of a seat belt as a contributing cause in this case.
The coroner touted both cases as examples of how seat belt use could save lives. He noted that in Persichitti’s accident, a seat belt, in tandem with an air bag likely would have spared his life when he hit the tree.
And in Gearhart’s case, Reilly said that a seatbelt would likely have kept him from being ejected from the vehicle, the point at which the major injuries to him occurred.