What is Happening with The fatal accidents on Rt 64
Dylan Huberman asked state police and local drivers that very question,
Trooper Christopher Fox says these two crashes both being in that area is a trend…but he sees a bigger issue across the Troop G coverage area.
“There’s been a recent uptick in fatal crashes in the Troop G area. Over the last three years alone, there has been a 20% increase in fatal crashes, which is obviously an alarming statistic.”
Since January of 2020, Trooper Fox says Route 64 has been quite an issue.
“We went back into our database and discovered that there were sixteen crashes in Walker Township over the last two years.”
Sue Heckman commutes to Centre County on Route 64 from the Lamar area, where she has lived for over forty years, and has seen multiple crashes first hand.
“I’ve probably seen about eight accidents myself but I know there have been more than that.”
She works as a nurse, and has seen a lot of that road at all hours of the day and sees two factors causing these collisions.
“People pulling out from the businesses which are around this area and sometimes, they pull out in front of people without really giving themselves enough time, in a big hurry a lot, and speeding I think is a problem also.”
But Trooper Fox says not wearing seatbelts and PSP documents indicate they were not worn in both fatal crashes last week are the biggest threat of all.
“We actually had data pulled from the last three years in the Troop G coverage area and towards the end of 2021, there was 36 fatal crashes and of that, 24 occupants weren’t wearing a seatbelt.”
Fox added that State Police intend to police that area more heavily moving forward.