A major accident yesterday morning and several others in recent days proved that despite the mild winter, area drivers still have to contend with tricky driving conditions from time to time.
\nA multiple-vehicle accident happened on State Route 220 near Bell Hollow Road in Taylor Township, Centre County shortly before 8 a.m. yesterday.
\nState police said a car driven by 29-year-old Scott W. Lockard of Altoona and a vehicle driven by 31-year-old Frank Pulcinello of Tyrone were traveling north on Route 220. Lockard\u2019s car was in front of Pulcinello\u2019s while two other vehicles, a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck, were southbound.
\nNorthbound traffic began to slow down when another vehicle was preparing to make a left turn.
\nLockard\u2019s car was unable to stop because of icy road conditions and slid into oncoming traffic where his vehicle collided head-on with the tractor-trailer driven by 54-year-old Edwin B. Rector of Lisbon, OH.
\nAfter the collision, the tractor-trailer crossed the road and went into the northbound lane and struck the left side of a car driven by 31-year-old Frank A. Pulcinello.
\nThe tractor-trailer struck a guiderail where it came to rest blocking both lanes of traffic. The pick-up truck driver, 43-year-old David J. Gehret of Altoona, noticed Lockard\u2019s car spinning after the collision with the tractor-trailer. Gehret veered off of the road into a yard where his vehicle collided with a large piece of concrete.
\nA passenger in Pulcinello\u2019s car, 28-year-old Rebekah S. Pulcinello, suffered a severe injury. A 9-month-old baby was also in the vehicle. Police said \u201cthe jaws of life\u201d were used to extricate the three people in Pulcinello\u2019s vehicle. Pulcinello had moderate injuries while the baby sustained minor injuries. The adult occupants were wearing seat belts while the baby was in a child seat.
\nPolice said all three were taken to Altoona Regional Medical Center either by ambulance or helicopter.
\nLockard had a minor injury and was not wearing a seat belt. Rector was wearing a seat belt and was not injured. Gehret was also belted and escaped injury.
\nLockard\u2019s car, the tractor-trailer and Pulcinello\u2019s vehicle all had severe damage while Gehret\u2019s pick-up truck had moderate damage.
\nPort Matilda EMS\/Volunteer Fire Company, Altoona EMS and Mount Nittany EMS assisted Philipsburg-based state police.
\nThe road was closed for about two hours.
\nWith the latest bout of poor driving conditions, PennDOT is advising motorists about how quickly problems can develop during the winter months.
\n\u201cSnow squalls present a major challenge to motorists and PennDOT crews, since they usually strike with little or no warning,\u201d said Tom Prestash, PennDOT\u2019s District 9 executive.
\nA press release from PennDOT noted squalls could quickly cause roads to become snow covered. The transportation agency said they dispatch crews as soon as there are reports in an area, but since there is usually no warning, it is impossible for PennDOT to use anti-icing material or other preemptive measures.
\nPennDOT said in addition to snow-covered roads, heavy squalls could also cause whiteout conditions virtually eliminating a driver\u2019s visibility.
\nPennDOT is offering the following advice if a driver encounters a snow squall:
\n\u2022 Slow down gradually and drive at a speed that suits the conditions;
\n\u2022 Turn on your headlights;
\n\u2022 Stay in your lane;
\n\u2022 Increase your following distance;
\n\u2022 Stay alert, keep looking as far ahead as possible and be patient;
\n\u2022 Reduce in-car distractions since your full attention is required;
\n\u2022 Use defroster and wipers;
\n\u2022 Keep windows and mirrors free of snow and ice;
\n\u2022 During whiteouts, come to a complete stop only when you can safely get as far off the road as possible or when there is a safe area to do so;
\n\u2022 Do not stop in the flow of traffic since this could create a chain-reaction collision;
\n\u2022 Do not pass a vehicle moving slowly or speed up to get away from a vehicle that is following too closely and
\n\u2022 Always buckle up and never drink and drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A major accident yesterday morning and several others in recent days proved that despite the mild winter, area drivers still have to contend with tricky driving conditions from time to time. A multiple-vehicle accident happened on State Route 220 near Bell Hollow Road in Taylor Township, Centre County shortly before 8 a.m. yesterday. State police […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}