[wrightchr]

crazy story of the day...

Wrong-way crash kills man
Woman hospitalized in critical condition

Thursday, September 30, 2004
From staff reports

A Dillsburg-area man died yesterday after a wrong-way crash on Route 15 that left another driver in critical condition and tied up traffic for hours.

Lower Allen Twp. police said the 77-year-old victim was flown to Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where he died.

Police were withholding his name pending notification of relatives.

The other driver, Iva Hare, 76, of Allendale Road in Upper Allen Twp., was admitted to the medical center in critical condition, a spokeswoman said.

Police said the crash occurred at 11:25 a.m. in the southbound lanes between the Slate Hill Road and Wesley Drive exits.

Police said witnesses told them Hare's car entered the highway at the Wesley Drive exit and went north on the southbound ramp extension that links the two exits.

Hare continued down the exit ramp at Wesley Drive despite attempts by several motorists to stop her, police said.

At some point, Hare merged to her right -- into the right southbound lane -- where her Chevrolet Cavalier collided head-on with the victim's Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.

Police said the pickup rolled onto its side, struck a tractor-trailer parked along the roadway and traveled another 25 feet into a wooded area.

Both drivers were trapped in their vehicles until paramedics and firefighters freed them.

The crash shut the southbound lanes for two hours, creating gridlock at several spots along Route 15. Backlogs extended into Camp Hill to near the West Shore Country Club.

The crash remains under investigation. Police hadn't determined how Hare got on the highway headed the wrong way.

Anyone with information may call police at 975-7575 or Cumberland County Control at 238-9676.