I-78 Crossover Crash Involving Tractor-Trailers Under Investigation

State Police at Belfast say they’re investigating a multi-vehicle crash on I-78 in Lower Saucon Township that happened Monday around 9 p.m. and left a section of the busy interstate highway covered in red juice which had to be cleaned up.

According to an Oct. 27 news release, the crash involved four vehicles, including three tractor-trailers.

Police said their investigation determined that an eastbound tractor-trailer crossed over the center median near mile marker 64.5 and struck a westbound tractor-trailer head on. Then another westbound tractor-trailer struck the tractor-trailer that had crossed over the median strip.

The release said that this second collision caused the tractor trailer that had crossed over the median “to overturn and containers of cranberry juice to spill onto the roadway.”

A fourth vehicle which police said was a transit van was also struck during the chain reaction sequence of collisions.

The driver of the tractor-trailer that overturned was injured in the accident and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, police said.

Due to the crash and subsequent cleanup operation, I-78 westbound was closed from mile marker 67 to the crash site for over eight hours, with traffic detoured onto Exit 67 westbound. Exit 67 is the exit for Rt. 412 in Hellertown and Bethlehem.

State police said the Troop M Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Unit is assisting in their investigation of the crash.