Police

Police: Truck Driver Took I-78 On-Ramp Too Fast, Jack-Knifed

Highway Accident Police

A New York man will receive a motor vehicle code citation for allegedly causing an accident on the on-ramp from Rt. 33 south to I-78 east in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast said in a news release Tuesday.

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Pennsylvania State Police at Dublin say a Brooklyn man operating a tractor-trailer was driving too fast for conditions when he lost control of his rig on the ramp from Rt. 33 south to I-78 east on May 7.

A New York man will receive a motor vehicle code citation for allegedly causing an accident on the on-ramp from Rt. 33 south to I-78 east in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast said in a news release Tuesday.

According to the report, 36-year-old Mohammed A. Hasnat of Brooklyn was operating a 2019 Freightliner tractor-trailer when he approached the interchange shortly before 11 a.m. May 7.

Police said it had been raining, and as Hasnat attempted to negotiate the right curve from Rt. 33 onto the interstate he “was traveling too fast for the wet road conditions.”

Hasnat lost control of the rig, police said, and “started to travel to the southern portion of the roadway” before striking an embankment on the south side of the ramp.

Police said the collision caused the tractor-trailer to “bounce off the embankment and travel across the eastern travel lanes of I-78,” where it jack-knifed.

A 58-year-old man from Wharton, N.J., who was eastbound in a 2016 Volvo 6X2 was traveling in the right lane of I-78 when Hasnat’s truck jack-knifed, police said, and struck the driver’s side of the trailer with his front bumper.

The Volvo’s bumper sustained minor damage as a result of the collision, but neither man was injured in the accident, the report indicated.

Hasnat was to be cited for speeding, police said, adding that the tractor-trailer was removed from the highway by Easton Auto Body Towing.

State police said they were assisted at the scene by volunteers from both Lower Saucon Fire Rescue and the Bethlehem Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Note: All individuals charged in connection with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This story was compiled using information from Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast.

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About the author

Josh Popichak

Josh Popichak is the owner, publisher and editor of Saucon Source. A Lehigh Valley native, he's covered local news since 2005 and previously worked for Berks-Mont News and AOL/Patch. Contact him at josh@sauconsource.com.

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