Police working to figure out cause of Route 51 accident

Both drivers involved in this crash Thursday night on Route 51 in front of Essey Tire were transported to trauma centers in Pittsburgh.

By CHRISTINE HAINES

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The Allegheny County Police accident reconstruction team is trying to determine the cause of a head-on collision around 9:15 p.m. Thursday.

The crash occurred in the southbound lanes of Route 51, known in that location as Hayden Boulevard, between Rodney Lane and the Allegheny-Westmoreland County line, according to Forward Township Police Chief Travis Stoffer.

“I’m waiting for the reconstructionist to determine which vehicle was heading in which direction at the time of the crash,” Stoffer said. “We’re hoping to get video footage from one of the nearby businesses.”

Stoffer said the road is divided by both a grass median and a cable barrier at that point, so one of the vehicles had to have entered the southbound lanes heading north somewhere in Rostraver Township prior to the accident.

“We get those calls all the time, but usually by the time we get there, the person realizes it and has turned around at Rodney Lane,” Stoffer said. “We get multiple calls a year for vehicles going the wrong way. The majority of them don’t end in a crash.”

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