Wrong-way crash on U.S. 22/322 leaves nine hurt – Patriot-News
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Driving back from some early Christmas celebrations with my wife’s family last night, we hit a delay on US 22/322 eastbound, near Dauphin. Apparently, this is what happened:
A wrong-way crash Sunday night on U.S. Routes 22/322 near borough Dauphin sent nine people to local hospitals.
State troopers say Timothy Kinert, 51, of Harrisburg was driving east in the westbound lanes and is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol.
Troopers said Anthony Krakowski, 44, of Halifax, was driving west at 7:10 p.m. in the left lane approaching the Dauphin exit when he encountered Kinert’s vehicle heading toward him.
Krakowski steered toward the right lane to avoid a head-on crash, but the left front of his vehicle was struck by Kinert’s vehicle, troopers said.
The Impact caused Krakowski’s vehicle to spin in a counter clockwise direction, and it was struck by a westbound vehicle driven by Larry Mensch, 71, of Milton.
Troopers said Kinert’s vehicle continued to head east and spun across both lanes before it struck a concrete retaining wall, troopers said. Troopers said the vehicle continued to spin around, crossed back over both lanes and hit the barrier that separates the east and westbound lanes.
That could have been very nasty. As for us, I got off at PA 225 and tried to find a way back to US 22/322 eastbound, but that is just about the worse place for something to happen since Blue Mountain is in the way. After spending 15 minutes trying to find a way out, I turned around with the intention of going back over the Clark’s Ferry Bridge (which is kind of an oxymoron, no?) and then down US 11/15. Fortunately, the traffic eastbound had cleared by then. Westbound though, US 22/322 was backed up all the way to PA 39. That could not have been fun.
