Oil to blame for Route 88 crash
RICES LANDING – Authorities are blaming a greasy substance slathered across Route 88 near Rices Landing for a rollover crash that injured four people Thursday afternoon.
A sport-utility vehicle was traveling north on Route 88 in Jefferson Township about 1:30 p.m. when the driver lost control in a slippery patch of oil, and her vehicle rolled onto the passenger’s side door and into a guardrail.
Two women and two children were pulled from the vehicle and taken to area hospitals, Rices Landing Assistant Fire Chief Jason Maddich said. He said their injuries did not appear to be severe and they were fortunate the situation wasn’t much worse.
The SUV came to rest leaning against a guardrail, which protected the vehicle from plunging down a steep hillside.
“I’m glad no one was hurt badly,” Maddich said. “I like to see the outcome we had.”
He said authorities are investigating what the greasy substance was and how it came in contact with the roadway. State police are handling the crash investigation and the names of the victims were not immediately available.
William Cagle of Nemacolin was driving north on Route 88 near where the SUV crashed when his pickup truck was splattered with the greasy substance he believed to be cooking oil. An empty plastic container was found in the roadway near the crash.
Cagle said the SUV began sliding on the grease and then flipped over after the tires dug into dry pavement. Two lines of the substance stretched several feet, making the roadway slippery for even pedestrians and emergency responders.
“You see that black (sheen) and you think it’s the tar from them chipping the road,” Cagle said. “It’s just a freak accident.”
The crash happened near a dangerous curve between Clarksville and Hill Top roads that was blamed for at least two water tanker crashes in the past year. However, it doesn’t appear the curve itself caused the crash since the oily substance was found at the exit of the turn.
Still, Cagle knows the dangerous history of that stretch of road.
“I always know to slow down through this area,” Cagle said.