The driver of a box truck was issued a traffic citation for “following too closely” following a Sept. 1 crash on I-78 west in the City of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast said in a news release recently.
According to police, shortly after 6 p.m., 44-year-old Hector Santiagocruz of Clifton, N.J., was operating a 2006 Freightliner box truck in the area of mile marker 66.9 in the westbound left lane when he came upon traffic that had slowed ahead of him and “was not able to stop in time.”
Police said the front of Santiagocruz’s truck then struck the back of a 2015 Chevrolet Express that was operated by a 36-year-old Whitehall man.
Also in the vehicle that was struck was a passenger who police identified as a 25-year-old Allentown man.
Police said the passenger was uninjured, but the driver of the Chevy Express reported lower back pain following the crash and was transported from the scene by City of Bethlehem EMS.
Santiagocruz was not injured in the accident, police said, and his truck could not be driven from the scene due to damage it sustained in the crash.
The area in which the accident occurred is near the Rt. 412 interchange for Hellertown and Bethlehem.
