Every time a motorist gets behind the wheel of a vehicle in Pennsylvania, he or she is responsible for driving cautiously and being aware of others who may be in or near the roadway. Unfortunately that responsibility is not always observed, and when the wrongdoer is driving a truck, serious injuries can occur. It almost goes without saying that a truck accident involving a pedestrian rarely ends well for the victim. One 20-year-old Allentown woman nearly lost her life when she was struck by a snow plow at about 7 p.m. on Jan. 21. The woman was said to be walking to a friend's house in Allentown when she was struck by the plow on Linden Street while crossing American Parkway.

Witnesses say the 49-year-old truck driver stopped after he hit the woman and then fled the scene of the accident. They were able to get his license plate number and report it to authorities. Police went to the man's Allentown home where residents telephoned the driver to return. He arrived driving the snow plow and was placed under arrest. He faces criminal charges of causing an accident involving death or injury, failure to notify police of the accident, failure to stop to give information or render aid, and driving on a suspended license.

The victim was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where she was still listed in critical condition days after the collision. She suffered a broken leg, hip and pelvis, and underwent one operation with at least one more scheduled. Her mother complained that she was not notified of the incident until the morning following the truck accident, and a friend noted that the driver simply left the woman in the roadway to die. The victim is expected to remain in the hospital for at least three weeks.

The accused man first indicated that he left the scene because he had a suspended license, though he acknowledged he hit something that "flew up" on impact. Later he claimed that he only tried to elude an unidentified object in the roadway, but he was not sure that he had struck anything. The man will now have to answer to the charges against him. Hopefully this incident and others like it will remind drivers of the severe and harmful consequences that negligent driving can have.

Source: The Morning Call, "Police: Snow plow driver strikes woman, flees the scene," Manuel Gamiz Jr., Jan. 23, 2012