Police said that after losing his brakes on a downhill section of Bridgeton Hill Road in Bridgeton Township June 15, the driver of a refrigerated box truck loaded with food lost control of the vehicle as he approached the village of Upper Black Eddy. The truck ultimately crashed into a stone retaining wall in the area of Hambone Lane, pictured above at right, and was separated from a vehicle it was towing at the time, according to a report shared by Pennsylvania State Police at Dublin.
A crash involving a refrigerated box truck carrying a full load of food resulted in a big mess that closed a section of road in Upper Black Eddy for hours last week and could result in motor vehicle code citations being filed, according to state investigators.
Pennsylvania State Police at Dublin shared details of their accident investigation in a news release Friday, in which they identified the driver of the vehicle that crashed as a 44-year-old man from Middlesex County, N.J.
Police said that shortly before noon on June 15, the driver and two male passengers from New Jersey were northbound on Bridgeton Hill Road in Bridgeton Township, Bucks County, when the brakes on their 2017 Peterbilt 567 truck failed on a steep downhill grade.
According to the state police accident report summary, the truck was also towing a vehicle when the driver lost control of his speed because of the brake malfunction.
Police said that as the driver approached the bottom of the hill, he failed to negotiate a sharp left curve in the area of Bridgeton Hill Road’s intersection with Hambone Lane, crossed over the northbound fog line and struck a stone retaining wall.
They said the truck then “continued on an uncontrolled northbound trajectory.”
The vehicle that was being towed separated from the truck and struck a utility pole before rolling onto its side and ending up on the northbound side of the road, police said.
According to the accident report, the box truck ended up about 50 meters north of where the towed vehicle stopped on the same side of the road, spilling its load in the process.
Bridgeton Hill Road in the area of the crash was closed in both directions for approximately six hours, police said, with traffic detoured around the accident scene.
Per police, no airbags deployed and both the driver and one of the passengers were wearing seatbelts, however the second passenger was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.
It was the passenger who was belted in who police said may have suffered a minor injury and was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital-Bethlehem for an evaluation.
Police said the truck was impounded for the purpose of conducting a full Motor Carrier Vehicle Safety Inspection and the Department of Agriculture was notified of the accident.
Troopers stated in the report that citations may be filed in Bucks County District Court, based on the pending results of the inspection.
State police said they were assisted at the scene by Upper Bucks Regional EMS, Upper Black Eddy Fire Department and Jim Jacobs Towing of Pipersville.
Note: Any individual charged in connection with a crime or cited under applicable commonwealth statute is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This story was compiled using information provided by Pennsylvania State Police at Dublin.
