Vehicle malfunction causes multi-vehicle crash on I-79 in Greene County
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
State police investigate a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 79 just before the Mt. Morris exit Friday afternoon.
Department of Transportation workers sweep debris off the roadway following a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 79 Friday afternoon.
Three drivers were injured and taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital after a crash on Interstate 79 about two miles from the Mt. Morris exit Friday.
The crash, according to state police, was caused by a vehicle malfunction.
Officials at the Morgantown, W.Va., hospital were unable to provide condition reports for the three drivers involved in the crash, but a report from state police indicates they were taken to the hospital with suspected serious injuries. A trooper on the scene of the crash said the drivers appeared to be stable when transported.
The multi-vehicle crash backed up traffic on Interstate 79 between mile markers 5 and 6 in Perry Township for several hours. The crash caused one southbound lane to close and traffic to move slowly, with cars backed up to the Kirby exit.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
State police investigate a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 79 just before the Mt. Morris exit Friday afternoon.
Crews were called to the accident around 11:30 a.m.
State police said Jack A. Holbert, 81, of Mt. Morris was driving north in the right lane of I-79. A hubcap came off one of the tires, causing Holbert to lose control of the vehicle, according to police. He went into the median and crossed into the southbound lanes. The truck then became airborne and twisted counterclockwise.
Edward K. Stiles, 59, of Fairmont, W.Va., was headed south on I-79 in a truck and saw Holbert crossing into his lane. Stiles swerved into the right lane in an attempt to avoid Stiles and hit a vehicle driven by Dale M. Sites, 62, of Maysville, W.Va.
Holbert continued into the southbound lanes and hit Stiles. Holbert’s vehicle continued to rotate, bouncing on the road and into a guardrail. Holbert’s and Stiles’ vehicles came to a rest against the southbound guardrail, while Sites drove across the left lane and into the median.
Both Holbert and Stiles needed to be extricated from their trucks.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Officials said a vehicle headed northbound crossed the median and hit two other vehicles about two miles ahead of the Mt. Morris exit on Interstate 79 Friday afternoon.
All three vehicles produced debris that took crews hours to clean up. The crash report states each vehicle sustained disabling damage and needed to be towed.