Driver killed in Route 40 crash
A New Castle man was killed in a car crash on Route 40 in Menallen Township early Tuesday in nearly the same place that a serious crash occurred on Friday. State police Sgt. James Caccimelio identified the man as 25-year-old John Gordon Mason.
The fatality marks the eighth in Fayette County this month. The other fatalities have been scattered throughout the county, and some have been weather-related.
In a release, trooper Michael Irwin indicated that Mason, driving a Dodge Avenger, lost control of his car going around a left turn hearing toward Uniontown on Route 40 near Knucklehead’s bar. Irwin indicated that Mason’s car went into a yard, hit an embankment and his vehicle went airborne. The car went through a second yard before hitting a fence post and a small rock wall, Irwin indicated.
The car overturned before stopping in a third yard, police said.
Irwin indicated that Route 40 was clear and dry at the time of the crash.
State police accident reconstruction specialist Cpl. Joseph D’Andrea said that the crash occurred about 50 feet from an accident Friday that left the suspected driver of that car in critical condition.
Steven Long of Denver, Pa., and passenger, Jennifer Madden of Mount Pleasant, also was heading toward Uniontown on Route 40 when Long lost control of his car near the bar. The vehicle hit a utility pole.
Long was thrown from the car, and remains in Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. A spokeswoman for the hospital would not release any information on his condition Tuesday. Madden was treated after the accident, but discharged.
D’Andrea, one of two accident reconstruction specialists for the five barracks within the troop, did not investigate either crash, but is familiar with the road.
He said there have been other crashes in the area, and said the slight left curve in the road near Knucklehead’s, coming toward Uniontown on Route 40, can catch a driver not accustomed to the road by surprise.
Still, said D’Andrea, at the road’s 45 mph speed limit, the curve should not cause accidents.
Caccimelio said that the are where these crashes occurred is a drunken driving enforcement area where troopers frequently set up patrol spots. He also noted that the area of the accidents is a bad spot where more general enforcement efforts may be employed.