Unborn Child Killed In Crash Involving Philadelphia Man

Police have not yet filed charges in relation to a three-vehicle crash that hospitalized five people and claimed the life of an unborn child. The tragic motor vehicle accident occurred on Saturday evening along Route 73 in Evesham, New Jersey.

Police reports say a 61-year-old Philadelphia man was driving northbound, possibly at a high rate of speed when the accident occurred. A pregnant Sicklerville woman was behind the wheel of a Jeep headed in the opposite direction.

According to police, the 61-year-old driver veered across the median onto the southbound side of the highway and collided head-on with the Jeep. A third vehicle then struck the Jeep from the rear.

Emergency personnel were forced to extricate several victims from the wreckage. The Philadelphia man and his 57-year-old wife, who was in the passenger seat, were seriously hurt. The couple and the injured 25-year-old driver of the Jeep were airlifted to Camden’s Cooper University Hospital for treatment.

The 61-year-old driver’s condition was listed as critical and his wife was listed in stable condition. Police did not report the Jeep driver’s medical status. Sadly, officials did say that the multi-vehicle crash caused the death of the baby she was carrying.

Two other passengers in the Jeep, a 7-year-old boy and a 44-year-old Sicklerville woman, were also hospitalized. The woman passenger’s condition was unreported. The boy was last listed in critical condition.

Police will examine the events leading up to the accident. Answers to questions investigators want to ask may not immediately be available from the severely-injured crash victims.

Did the Pennsylvania driver move across the center median to avoid another vehicle? Was the driver speeding or distracted? Was negligence the reason the crash happened? Hopefully all these questions will be answered in time.

Source: Phillyburbs.com, “Evesham accident claims life of unborn child,” David Levinsky, June 26, 2012