Man Injured in Rollover Wreck on Highway's Shoulder, Police Say

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A 41-year-old Vermont man suffered suspected serious injuries when the car he was driving struck a tractor-trailer on the shoulder of I-78 west in Lower Saucon Township earlier this month, Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast said Sunday.

In a news release, police said Jason K. Relyea of Burlington, Vt., was operating a 2004 Honda Accord in the highway’s right lane when he veered into the shoulder and struck the truck in the area of mile marker 70.6.

After striking the 2022 Freightliner, police said Relyea’s sedan “flipped onto its roof and slid approximately 150 feet” before coming to a stop in the right lane, still on its roof.

Police said the tractor-trailer was “legally parked on the shoulder…with its hazard lamps activated” at the time of the accident, which occurred at around 11 p.m. Jan. 15.

According to the news release, Relyea’s vehicle was heavily damaged, along with the rear end of the trailer he struck. Both vehicles were towed from the scene, police said.

Police said Relyea–who was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash–was taken to St. Luke’s Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township by Dewey EMS for treatment of suspected serious injuries.

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Charges related to the crash–including a possible charge of DUI–are pending the results of an ongoing investigation by state police, the accident report indicated.

The report noted that Lower Saucon Fire Rescue provided assistance at the crash scene.