Last weekend, several lanes of Interstate 70 were closed for more than five hours after a tractor-trailer accident that resulted in minor injuries to the truck's driver. According to police reports, the force of the crash sent the truck onto its side, blocking three lanes of traffic.

The truck accident occurred on Saturday morning on I-70 near Belle Vernon, which is about 35 miles south of Pittsburgh. A tractor-trailer driven by an out-of-state driver was traveling in the eastbound lanes of I-70 when his tractor-trailer car carrier fishtailed. The vehicle veered off the highway and struck a dirt embankment. The force of that collision caused the truck to jackknife and flip onto its side, blocking all eastbound lanes of traffic as well as one westbound lane.

The driver of the truck was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

Although several area roads were coated with ice at the time of the crash, Pennsylvania police would not attribute the accident to ice. However, a police report stated that the truck driver was "driving at an excessive rate of speed for road conditions" when he lost control of his vehicle.

The accident and subsequent road closure was actually the second to occur on I-70 that day. Just before midnight on Friday, a car and tractor-trailer collided near Smithton. One person was injured in the crash, and the westbound lanes of traffic were backed up for several hours. Police have not yet provided any additional details on that accident.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Tribune, "Accidents close three lanes of I-70 for five hours," Jan. 22, 2012