A 22-year-old man from Leeper was killed and four other people were injured early on Saturday, November 14, when the car they were travelling in left Route 949 in Eldred Township, Jefferson County, travelled about 150 feet up an embankment and struck a tree, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Coroner's Office reported by The Courier Express.
Source: The Courier Express
The man who died was identified by the coroner's office as Nicholas A. McWilliams, 22, of Leeper, in neighbouring Clarion County. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:19 a.m. by Jefferson County Coroner Greg Furlong.
A crash detected by phones before any caller spoke
The coroner's office said fire and EMS personnel were dispatched at approximately 2:58 a.m. after multiple iPhone crash-detection alerts reached 911. Modern phones can automatically alert emergency services when they detect a severe vehicle crash, and in this case those automated alerts were the first word rescuers received about what had happened on a dark, rural stretch of road.
Fire officials who arrived at the scene, in the 5400 block of Route 949 near 5435 Route 949, found a single-vehicle crash with multiple occupants inside the car, the coroner's office said.
What the coroner's office says happened
Coroner Greg Furlong said the vehicle, a 2004 Honda Civic, was travelling northbound on Route 949 when it left the roadway, travelled approximately 150 feet up an embankment and struck a tree, coming to rest against another tree. Furlong determined the cause of McWilliams' death to be blunt force trauma; a second report of the coroner's findings specified blunt-force trauma to the torso and lower extremities.
Four others taken to Penn Highlands DuBois
The four other occupants of the Civic were injured and were transported to Penn Highlands DuBois for medical treatment, according to the coroner's office. The news release provided no additional information about the four injured people, and their conditions have not been released.
The coroner's office was assisted at the scene by the Sigel, Pine Creek and Corsica fire departments, along with EMS units from Jefferson and Clarion counties.
State police investigation continues
The crash remains under investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police. Investigators have not announced what caused the Civic to leave the roadway, and no information about speed, road conditions or any other contributing factor has been released. In a state police crash investigation, troopers typically examine the scene, the vehicle and the roadway before issuing findings, and the coroner's office handles the formal determination of the cause of death.
Why this road and this hour matter
Route 949 is a rural state road running through Eldred Township in northwestern Pennsylvania, the kind of two-lane country road — unlit, lined with trees and embankments — where a vehicle that leaves the pavement has little room to recover. The crash happened at about 3 a.m., an hour when rural roads are nearly empty and when, as this case showed, an automated phone alert can be the difference between a crash being found in minutes and being found at daylight.
What happens next: the Pennsylvania State Police investigation will determine the sequence of events in the crash, and any further information about the four injured occupants will come from official releases. No funeral or memorial details were included in the coroner's release. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if state police release their findings.